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THE GENTRY FAMILY 
IN AMERICA 



The Gentry Family 
in America 

1676 to 1909 

INCLUDING NOTES ON THE FOLLOWING 
FAMILIES RELATED TO THE GENTRYS : 
CLAIBORNE, HARRIS, HAWKINS, ROBINSON, 
SMITH, WYATT, SHARP, FULKERSON, 
BUTLER, BUSH, BLYTHE, PABODY, NOBLE, 
HAGGARD, AND TINDALL 

BY 

RICHARD GENTRY, Ph. B., M. S. 

Kansas City, Missouri 




PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY 

THE GRAFTON PRESS 



NEW YORK 



MCMIX 



cs 






COPVRIGHT, 1909, BY 

RICHARD GENTRY 



All Rights Reserved 







CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface 



9 



Part I 



Introductory Notes 13 

Etymology of the Name Gentry 13 

Historical Facts and Early Records 14 

The Early Gentrys 14 

Parish Vestry Books 19 

Parish Registers and Other Marriage and Birth 

Records 23 

Land Entries, Purchases and Transfers ... 25 

Explanatory Notes on Genealogical Arrangement . 29 

Part II 

Nicholas Gentry and His Descendants 31 

Part III 

Other Gentrys 241 

Part IV 

Gentry Family Reunions 299 

First Gentry Family Reunion 299 

Response to Address of Welcome by Richard 

Gentry, of Kansas City, Mo 300 

An Address on the Life of General Richard Gen- 
try, by His Son, Thomas Benton Gentry . . 304 



6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

First Gentry Family Reunion — Continued 

Letters in Reply to Invitations to Attend the 

Reunion 312 

Newspaper Notes 315 

Partial List of those Present at Crab Orchard . 317 

Second Gentry Family Reunion 320 

Verses Written by Mrs. Mary Gentry Paxton . 322 

Address by Thomas Benton Gentry .... 324 

Newspaper Notes . 326 

Part V 

Historical Sketches, War Records and United States 

Census Report 329 

The Early Settlement of Tennessee, by the Author . 329 

Battle of King's Mountain, by Major Benjamin Sharp 333 
Meredith Poindexter Gentry, by Alexander H. 

Stephens 338 

Roster of Colonel Gentry's Regiment 353 

Gentry Soldiers of the Principal Wars 357 

A Wonderful Surgical Operation 361 

Gentrys Shown in First United States Census of 1790 363 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Richard Gentry, Kansas City, Missouri . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Home of Richard Gentry, the Kentucky Pioneer, 

Built in 1804 50 

Mrs. Nancy Gentry Bush 52 

Major William Martin Bush 54 

Mrs. Nancy White Harris 56 

Hon. John Duncan Harris 58 

Mrs. Jane Gentry Blythe 60 

Major James Blythe 62 

Josiah Gentry 76 

General Richard Gentry 94 

Mrs. Ann Hawkins Gentry 104 

Hon. Joseph V. C. Karnes 108 

Rev. Christy Gentry 112 

Hon. Joshua Gentry 114 

Richard Gentry of Pettis County, Missouri .... 144 

Reuben Gentry 156 

Major William Gentry 160 

Home of Major William Gentry 162 

Mrs. Jane Gentry Shelton 164 

Richard Harrison Gentry 166 

Mrs. Mary Wyatt Gentry 17° 

Captain John Wyatt 174 



8 ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Major Benjamin Sharp 180 

Oliver Perry Gentry 186 

Thomas Benton Gentry 188 

Peter Tribble Gentry 196 

Home of Peter Tribble Gentry 198 

General William H. Gentry 200 

Hon. Nicholas Hocker Gentry 214 

Home of Richard Gentry, Kansas City, Missouri . . 216 

A Family Dinner Party, Christmas, 1906, at Richard 

Gentry's Home in Kansas City, Missouri . . 218 

Martin Butler Gentry 220 

Elizabeth, Ruth, Mary and Helen ; Daughters of 

Richard Gentry 222 

Mrs. Susan Butler Gentry 224 

Hon. North Todd Gentry 230 

Benjamin Smith Gentry 232 

Richard Hardin Gentry 234 

Francis William Gentry, London, Eng 240 

James Gentry 268 

Colonel Allen Gentry 272 

Hon. Meredith Poindexter Gentry 286 

Crab Orchard, Kentucky, Reunion Group, Taken 

in 1898 298 



PREFACE 

A comprehensive record of a family, a faithful history and 
genealogy, printed and illustrated in a book, distributed widely 
among the family, and deposited in the libraries of the country, 
is a greater benefit, and more lasting, than monuments of granite 
or marble. It will preserve for us the spirit, life stories, heroic 
deeds, and even the pictures of some of our pioneer ancestors. 
" In books lies the soul of the whole past time." 

The author was prompted to write this book by a worth) 
family pride, and a desire to benefit the family by preserving 
for the future some of the facts of its history in America. The 
interest aroused in family history by the " Gentry Re- 
unions " in 1898 and in 1899 contributed very largely to the 
enthusiasm necessary to start such an undertaking. If the au- 
thor had realized what it would cost him in time, work, and 
money, and how poorly suited he was for such a task, this book 
would probably never have been written. As the work pro- 
gressed the scope of it assumed broader proportions than was 
first intended, and he realized more and more the great value of 
a book of history and genealogy to the family, and felt im- 
pelled, after starting the work, to persevere in its completion. 

My injunction to the parents of the family is to Educate — 
Educate — Educate. Every bright and promising young Gentry 
should have a college education; and each one can secure it, if 
both parent and son are inspired by a worthy ambition and a 
proper amount of self-denial. More of our boys should be 
prepared for the Government Military School at West Point, 
and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where they will be edu- 
cated by the Government at its own expense, and given an hon- 
orable life work afterwards. If the parents of this generation 
will pay more attention to higher education, we will have more 
great men in the next generation, to shed honor and glory upon 
the family in the future. " The fountain of honor will not be 
stopped while the channel of desert continues to flow." " Cousin 
Hastings," said the Earl of Huntington, " we can not all be top 



IO PREFACE 

branches of the tree, though we are all sprung from the same 
root. There are some who justly own the blood of the Morti- 
mers and Plantagenetts, though ignorant of it, are hid in the 
heap of common people." 

In this country, it becomes more and more a question of in- 
dividual merit and good preparation, if we hope for an honor- 
able, prominent and successful career. 

" There is one only good, namely, knowledge, 
And one only evil, namely, ignorance. 
Ignorance is the curse of God, 
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven." 

In compiling this book, information has been sought from 
every available source; including town and church records, his- 
tories, probate and deed records, old land books, war records 
of states, the military and pension records of the United States, 
and mainly from a large correspondence and personal interviews 
with members of the family. 

It would be impossible to collect these facts to-day, because so 
many of the old people of the family, who were connecting links 
with the past, have died in the last ten years. The writer met and 
corresponded with a number of very old Gentrys, who knew 
their ancestors of the third generation, born as far back as 1730, 
and he gained from them much valuable data. 

There is no pretense to literary style in this book; its chief 
value consists in its being an honest and faithful record of facts. 
It is far from being complete. It will serve at least as a foun- 
dation or skeleton for a more ambitious effort, by some accom- 
plished writer in the future, who will write better and more 
fully the Gentry story and bring it down to a later date. 

Lord Macaulay has justly observed: "A people which takes 
no pride in the noble achievements of its remote ancestors, will 
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by 
remote descendants." 

I desire to thank all those who have assisted me in this work 
and to especially mention the following: 

Miss Sallie J. Gentry of New Hope, Augusta Co., Va., for her 
zeal, encouraging words, and faithful work in assisting me 



PREFACE 1 1 

to find the missing link connecting her grandfather's numerous 
and influential descendants with Nathan Gentry, a grandson of 
Nicholas Gentry, the immigrant. 

Miss Martha Gentry, an old lady, now deceased, who lived 
near Charlottsville, Va., for her aid and information about the 
descendants of Benajah Gentry of Albemarle Co., Va. 

Mr. Charles W. Gentry, now deceased, of Harrodsburg, Ky., 
a brother of my grandfather, for facts about his father and 
grandfather and their descendants. Uncle Charlie had often 
heard his father tell the story of his life; a soldier boy at ij at 
the British surrender at Yorktown, an emigrant to Kentucky in 
1786, and an early pioneer of Madison County. 

Mr. James B. Gentry of Waterford, Ky., for his very full and 
accurate account of the descendants of Nicholas Gentry of 
Louisa Co., Va., and of his son, Blackston Gentry. 

Mrs. Sallie Thorn of Confederate, Ky., now deceased, and 
her daughter, Mrs. Rosa Gentry Lawrence of Conway, Arkan- 
sas, who materially aided me in tracing the descendants of Bart- 
lett, one of the sons of Robert Gentry of Jefferson Co., Tenn. 

Mr. Samuel C. Gentry of Rome, Ga., now deceased, for his 
aid in tracing the descendants of Martin, one of the sons of 
Robert Gentry of Tennessee. 

Miss Martha A. Gentry of Minneapolis, Kansas, who fur- 
nished a very complete list of the descendants of her grand- 
father, Claybourn Gentry, a son of Moses Gentry of Virginia. 

Mrs. Mildred Gentry Barrett of Decatur, Ind.. now deceased, 
whose love and family pride made her attend the Crab-Orchard 
family reunion in 1898, at the great age of 93. She gave me 
the first start in the line of Moses Gentry, her grandfather, who 
was one of the seven sons of Nicholas Gentry, the son of Nich- 
olas the immigrant. She remembered well her grandmother, 
Lucy Simms Gentry, wife of Moses Gentry, who survived him 
many years. 

My dear cousin, Mrs. Janie Gentry Shelton, of St. Louis, Mo., 
a most enthusiastic Gentry woman, who has furnished me a com- 
plete list of the descendants of Reuben E. Gentry of Pettis Co., 
Mo., her grandfather. 

Mr. James Gentry of Gentryville, Ind., now deceased, for an 
account of the descendants of his grandfather, Samuel Gentry, 



12 PREFACE 

who lived in North Carolina in 1800. Mr. James Gentry was a 
friend and playmate of Abraham Lincoln, and it was for Mr. 
Gentry's father, James Gentry, Sr., that Mr. Lincoln did his 
famous rail-splitting, as a hired hand, in Spencer Co., Ind. 

Mrs. Myrtle Gentry Calhoun of Crumpler, N. C, for her 
cheerful aid in tracing the descendants of Nicholas Gentry of 
Ashe Co., N. C. 

Miss Susie Gentry of Franklin, Tenn., for her great interest 
in Gentry genealogy and her valuable assistance in collecting 
the data about Watson Gentry and his descendants, including 
the history of his famous son, the Honorable Merideth P. Gen- 
try of Tennessee. 

Richard Gentry. 

Kansas City, Mo. 



GENEALOGY OF THE 
GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

PART I 

INTRODUCTORY NOTES 

ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME GENTRY 

The word Gentry, which to-day is in ordinary usage in the 
English language as a common noun, meaning " people of good 
breeding and education," is undoubtedly of French origin. It 
was introduced into the English language at the time of the 
Norman conquest as gentil (de bonne race), an adjective indi- 
cating in its first sense, refinement. 

Just as we find the early French and English kings taking 
their surnames from certain personal characteristics, such as 
Philippe, le Bel ; Louis, le Gros ; William the Red ; Richard 
Cceur de Lion, etc., so those of lesser prominence were called by 
some descriptive name or adjective. In this way descriptive 
names were gradually retained from father to son, and became 
fixed as surnames. We find in Marmontel, Mem. VI., a curiously 
appropriate passage : " Le genre de ses poesies avait bien pu 
dans sa jeunesse lui meriter le surnom de gentil." (The style 
of his poetry may have, in his youth, won for him the surname 
of Gentil.) 

In the old French we find a noun gentillece, formed from the 
adjective gentil, with the old French suffix ece. Gentillece, indi- 
cated people of refinement, as noblece {noble -\- O. F. ece), in- 
dicated people of the nobility. A little later we find gentillece 
or gentilise has become genterise by a change of / into r. In 
middle English genterise becomes by corruption gentrise, and 
finally gentrie, all the time, though changed in form, bearing the 
same significance and practically the same pronunciation. In 
"Pier's Plowman," C. XXI, 21, the same word is spelled in 



14 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

various ways, i. e., gentrise, gentrice, gentriie and gentrye. 
Chaucer spells the word with y instead of i in " De Superbia "— 
" Also to have pride of gentrye is right great foly, for oft time 
the gentrye of the body takes away the gentrye of the soul." 

" Fuller's Worthies " mentions a certain Nicholas Gentil as 
Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey Counties, England, under Edward 
Hand Edward III, 1327 to 1377. No effort has been made to 
trace the American Gentrys back to this Nicholas Gentil ; yet 
it seems quite likely, considering the etymology of the name 
Gentry, and the fact of the presence of the same given name, 
Nicholas, that Nicholas Gentry, the American immigrant of 
1677, and Nicholas Gentil, Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey Coun- 
ties in the middle of the fourteenth century, were of one and 
the same family. 

HISTORICAL FACTS AND EARLY RECORDS 
The Early Gentrys 

A search has not been made in England to trace the ancestors 
of the American Gentrys ; a very cursory examination seems to 
indicate that the name Gentry is a local one in England, and 
occurs mainly in Essex and Sussex Counties, and may be 
found in the parish registers in those counties as far back as 
the middle of the sixteenth century. 

There is a tradition in the family that the first Gentrys to 
settle in America were two young men, brothers, who came 
from England as British soldiers, and settled in Virginia. In 
support of this tradition, we find that the first Gentrys to settle 
in America were Nicholas Gentry and Samuel Gentry, who 
entered land in New Kent County, Va., in 1684. A further 
fact tends to confirm this tradition: that the British soldiers sent 
over to Virginia by Charles II, with the commissioners to 
settle the controversy between Gov. Berkeley and the people of 
Virginia at the time of the Bacon Rebellion in January, 1677, 
were not paid off and discharged until the fall of 1683, and 
many of them remained and settled in Virginia. 



Note. On January 29, 1677, an English fleet arrived in Hampton 
Roads, under command of Admiral Sir John Berry, with a regiment of 
soldiers, under command of Colonel Herbert Jeffries, and Colonel 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES 1 5 

Mr. Charles W. Gentry of Harrodsburg, Ky., now deceased, 
said that he often heard his father, Richard Gentry, a Revolu- 
tionary soldier, boast of his English blood, and at the same time 
speak of his first American ancestor and his brother as " Two 
old British Red Coats." 

The first authentic records that have been found of the Gen- 
trys in America are in St. Peter's Parish Register of New Kent 
County, Virginia, and in the old land books of Virginia which 
contain the records of the early land grants. 

The register of St. Peter's Parish of New Kent County, Va., 
shows the record of the baptism of Peter Gentry, son of Samuel 
Gentry, April 10, 1687. No other trace or record of this Peter 
or any other child of Samuel Gentry has ever been found. This 
register also shows the following: 

" Elizabeth, daugh't to Nich's Gentry bapt. ye 29 day of Au- 
gust, 1687. 

Nicholas sone of Nicholas Gentry baptiz the 30 May, 1697. 

Mable daught'r of Nich's Gentry, baptiz the 13 Dec'r, 1702." 

In the old land books there is a record of a patent in favor 
of Samuel Gentry for three hundred acres of land in New Kent 
County, Va., dated October 21, 1684, and described as follows: 
" On the south side of York River, between the heads of the 
branches of the said river and the heads of the branches of 



Francis Moryson. Sir William Berkeley, then Governor of Virginia, 
joined them at Kequotan, now called Hampton, and held an interview 
with them on the Bristol, the Admiral's flagship. Sir John Berry, 
Colonel Herbert Jeffries and Colonel Moryson were the three Commis- 
sioners. General Bacon had died and peace was soon restored, through 
the presence of the soldiers and the negotiations of the commissioners. 
Governor Berkeley was so enraged, so revengeful, and vindictive, that 
he caused to be executed, of those who had opposed him, twenty three 
of the most prominent and wealthy citizens of the colony. Governor 
Berkeley was recalled and ceased to be Governor April 27th, 1677, and 
returned to England with the fleet. Colonel Jeffries acted as Governor 
until the arrival of Lord Culpepper in 1680, who was recalled to Eng- 
land in 1683. Before his departure in the fall of 1683 he paid off the 
soldiers in Spanish piasters, worth five shillings, which he had made by 
proclamation worth six shillings, in payment for debts. Governor Berke- 
ley soon died in England of a broken heart. King Charles II, said of 
him : " The old fool has taken away more lives in that naked country, 
man I for the murder of my father." (See Neills Va. Carolorum.) 



l6 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Totopotomoy's creek adjoining the lands of Col. John Page, 
Edward Hardin and Nicholas Gentry." There is no record of 
a patent to land to Nicholas Gentry; the records containing 
his entry or deeds having been destroyed. New Kent County 
was a long, narrow county extending from east to west, and 
prior to 1720 it included both Hanover and Louisa Counties. 
Hanover was cut off the west end of New Kent in 1720, and 
Louisa was again cut off of the west end of Hanover in 1742. 
The original home of the Gentrys is now in the western part of 
Hanover county, near the old home of and on the creek named 
for the famous Indian chieftain, " Totopotomoy." 

Nicholas and Samuel, the immigrants, may each have had 
other sons, and doubtless did, for the parish registers were not 
very well kept in New Kent for lack of permanent ministers, 
and what records were made have partly been destroyed 
by fire. Joseph, William, James and Samuel Gentry were liv- 
ing in the same neighborhood as the immigrants, and were of 
proper ages to have been their sons. Joseph's lands were adja- 
cent to those of Nicholas Gentry in 1708, as represented by the 
surveyor of St. Paul's Parish ; William and James are mentioned 
in St. Paul's Vestry Book in such a connection about 1730 that 
we can infer that they were grown men. A Samuel Gentry made 
several conveyances of land in Louisa County about 1750, in 
which a wife did not join. 



Note. In Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia, page 233, is 
the following: 

In the year 1656, six or seven hundred Ricahecrians Indians having 
come down from the mountains and seated themselves near the falls of 
James River, Colonel Edward Hill, the Elder, was put in command of 
a body of men, and ordered to dislodge them. He was reinforced by 
Totopotomoy, chief of the Pamunky Indians, with one hundred of his 
tribe. A creek enclosing a peninsula in Hanover County retains the 
name Totopotomoy; and Butler, in Hudibras alludes to this chief: 

" The mighty Totopotomoy, 
Sent to our elders an envoy 
Complaining sorely of the breach 
Of league held forth by brother Patch." 

Hill was disgracefully defeated and the brave Totopotomoy, with 
the great part of his warriors slain. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES \J 

All the old records that would give us information about these 
old Gentrys have been destroyed by fire, except a portion of the 
Register and Vestry Book of St. Peter's, in New Kent, and the 
Vestry Book in St. Paul's Parish, in Hanover. If the record? 
of these two counties had been preserved, doubtless the com- 
plete line of descent of both immigrants could have been found, 
and much early interesting data could have been secured. 

It appears from the records that these old immigrants con- 
tinued to live in their old homes for about 55 years and until 
they died. They were undoubtedly born in England, came 
to this country as very young men, and married in Virginia 
about the time they entered their lands. 

Nicholas Gentry of the second generation, the son of Nich- 
olas the immigrant, lived in Albemarle County, Va., situated 
adjoining and west of Louisa County, at the time of his death. 
He left a will, which was probated in 1779, naming his seven 
sons and several other beneficiaries. Most of the male descend- 
ants of the seven sons have been traced down to the present date 
in Part II of this book. 

Most of the Gentrys of the third generation remained in Vir- 
ginia ; but David and Martin, sons of Nicholas II, followed their 
children to Madison County, Ky., when old men, and their 
brother Robert moved to Jefferson County, Tenn., in 1783, with 
his family. The other four sons of Nicholas II died in Albe- 
marle County, Va. A Nicholas Gentry * and his family followed 
James Robertson to the Nashville settlement in Tennessee in 
1782. This man was also of the third generation. His de- 
scendants all moved to Texas about the time of the Texas and 
Mexican war, and became prominent and prosperous. 

There were six Gentrys who settled in Lunenburg County, 
Va., between 1748 and 1763, having bought lands in the same 
vicinity. This county bordered on central North Carolina. This 
was no doubt the first migration of the Gentrys from their homes 
in Hanover, Louisa and Albemarle. These were also Gentrys 
of the third generation. Their names were: Allen, who left a 
will in Halifax County, Va., Hezekiah, who probably moved to 
South Carolina, Joseph and David, who moved to North Carolina, 



* He and his oldest son were caught outside the fort by the Indians 
and killed. 



l8 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

and William, who moved to Louisa or Hanover County. Nicho- 
las may have been the son of Nicholas II, since he lived for a time 
in Bedford County, Va., and afterwards in Louisa County, Va., 
where he died; or he may have been the Nicholas who was 
killed by the Indians in Tennessee in 1782. 

James Gentry of Gilford County, N. C, was also of the third 
generation. His son, Claiborne, was a Revolutionary soldier. 

The fourth generation of Gentrys furnished the Revolutionary 
soldiers of the family, and after the war they were among the 
early pioneer settlers in North Carolina, Tennessee and Ken- 
tucky. In the fifth generation the Gentrys had settled in almost 
every Southern State and territory, as well as in Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois and Missouri. 

As soldiers, they took part in every war, from the Colonial 
Indian wars to the late war with Spain. In the War of Inde- 
pendence, the Gentrys took part in nearly every important battle, 
from Trenton to King's Mountain, and some of them were 
present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In the 
War of 1812, a number of them were with General Jackson at 
New Orleans, and with General Harrison on the Northern 
Lakes, and helped to gain the noted victory over Packingham 
and avenge the cruel massacre at the river " Raisin," by the glo- 
rious victory of the battle of the " Thames." They fought under 
Colonel Taylor against the Seminoles in Florida in 1837, suf- 
fered defeat at the " Alamo " in Texas, charged to victory at 
San Jacinto, and rejoiced at the capture of Santa Anna. Sev- 
eral Gentrys lost their lives in the Mexican War of 1847. In 
our terrible Civil War, large numbers of the young Gentrys 
laid down their lives in battling for what they thought was their 
right and duty ; more of them fought for the Southern cause 
than for the Union, because more of them lived in the Southern 
States, and their families were slave-owners. 

The Gentrys have been very largely an agricultural people, 
interested in their lands and in their flocks and herds, and they 
were large slave-owners for a hundred and fifty years, until the 
Civil War. They seem to have preferred their plantations to 
commercial pursuits or political office. Not many of them have 
achieved greatness or national reputation yet a large number of 
them have been prominent in their states and counties. We 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES IO, 

find the Gentrys represented in the legislatures of Indiana, Ken- 
tucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri at various times. 
The Hon. Meredith P. Gentry, the great Whig statesman of 
Tennessee, the most noted orator of his time, served his state 
for many years, just before the Civil War, in the United States 
Congress, and was also a member of the Confederate Con- 
gress. The Gentrys have been good, strong men, honest and 
upright, good citizens, patriotic and true, generally prosperous, 
and many of them business men of marked ability, wealthy and 
influential. They have been an honest, conscientious, religious, 
God-fearing people, loving their families and providing for them 
well. 

The Gentrys, having settled in Virginia in 1684, are more or 
less intimately related, through marriage, with the following old 
Virginia families, most of whom settled in Virginia more than 
two hundred and fifty years ago: Bush, Ballard, Barnett, Blythe, 
Boone, Brown, Chenault, Claibourne, Clay, Crawford, Dabney, 
Dulaney, Estill, Estes, Gibson, Gordon, Green, Haggard, Fulker- 
son, Harris, Hawkins, Hocker, Joyner, McDowell, Maupin, 
Means, Michie, Miller, Mullins, Overton, Rodes, Rollins, Robin- 
son, Simms, Sharp, Shelton, Smith, Todd, Timberlake, Stone, 
Wyatt, Lipscomb. 

Parish Vestry Books 

The facts about the early Gentrys are so meagre, on account 
of the destruction of early records by fire, that it seems neces- 
sary to record here even the gleanings from the Parish Vestry 
books, which at least serve to give us some names and dates as 
a basis for our conclusions. 

The Vestry of the Parish in Virginia before the Revolution 
practically acted in the capacity of our county courts, in addi- 
tion to having control over the spiritual or church affairs of the 
parish. 

St. Peter's Parish Vestry book in New Kent County, Va., has 
the following entries : 

1689 " At a vestry held at St. Peters parish chorte on ye behalf of 
St. Peters this the 4th day of May, 1689; 

" The several persons names in companys ye were ordered to 
procession and remark ye bounds of each mans land. . . . 
. . . Nick Gentry and . . ." 



20 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

1701 " At a vestry held for St. Peters parish at the house of Mr. 
John Park, the 22 — October, 1701 — the following bill was allowed : 
To Nicholas Gentry 

For clothes for Mable Wood 
and funeral charges for Idem. 

899 case, 72=971 lbs. tobacco." 

The different gentlemen and land-owners of the parish cared 
for the poor or unfortunate, and were paid for so doing by the 
Vestry. 

1703 " Nicholas Gentry . . . and all the tithables from thence, 
up the North side of Totopotomoy's creek." 

St. Paul's Parish Vestry book in Hanover County, Va., has 
the following entries : 

1708 " We, the Vestry of St. Paul's Parish, having this day met, do 
find the parish debts amount to 33,630 lbs. of Tobacco, which 
being divided by 554, the number of tithables in our parish this 
present year, amounts to 61 lbs. Tobacco per poll, admitting 164 
more to be added to the parish debts, and the same to be ac- 
counted for next year." 

St. Paul's Parish seems to have been the home of the immi- 
grant Gentrys for many years. On account of the very great 
scarcity of coin or bills of exchange, tobacco was made the cir- 
culating medium, and took the place of money. It was the 
measure of value and the basis of all trade and credit in Vir- 
ginia from 1676 to about 1740. St. Paul's Parish was fortu- 
nate to have as its rector for nearly thirty years the Reverend 
Patrick Henry, the uncle of the famous statesman, Patrick 
Henry, and he was still in charge of the parish in 1763, when 
the young lawyer gained his famous case, " The Parsons Cause." 

1709 " In obedience to an ord n of this County Court dated Janry 
8th, 1709, we do appoint . . . Joseph Gentry, Richard Corley 
Junr. . . . and ... to assist Nicholas Gentry (who is 
appointed Overseer, by the aforesaid ordinance of Court) in 
clearing and keeping in repair the road mentioned in said order." 

1709 " Returns made to the Vestry of St. Pauls parish March 14th, 
1709, from the Surveyor of the 39 Precincts. . 

" The lands of ... Nicho. Gentry, Joseph Gentry . 
being adjacent to each other." 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES 21 

1709 At a Vestry held at the upper church for St. Pauls parish 
April 26th, 1709 . . . Upon the complaint of Nicho. Gentry, 
that his assistace is not able to make his road passable. Its 
ordered ." 

171 1 "The lands of . and Joseph Gentry being made one 

precinct." 

1716 " Its ordered ... do assist Samuel Gentry in clearing a 
road." 

" Whereas Sarah Tyler is sick at Joseph Gentry's and hath a 

1720 young child, its ordered that the s'd Joseph take care of the said 
Sarah and her child, and to be paid for so doing." 

lbs. Tobo. 

To John Gentrys acct. for Sarah Tyler c 250 

1723 " Nicholas Gentrys acct. 150 c 

1723 " To assist in Clearing Jo. Gentry. 

" Order'd that the Tithables of . . . Joseph Gentry . 
1732 . . and William Gentry (if he be willing) be added to Peter 
Harralson's gang, to assist him in clearing his road." 

1734 "... Nicholas Gentry ... to assist him in clear- 
ing the road . . ." 

J 735 " Order that Saml. Gentry have the Tithables of . . . 
Nicholas Gentry ... to assist him in clearing the road 
whereof he is .Surveyor." 

1735 William Gentry 
*735 Joseph Gentry 
1739 Joseph Gentry 
J 739 Nicho Gentry 
1739 Saml Gentry 

1743 Joseph Gentry Senr. 

'743 Joseph Gentry 

1743 Nicho. Gentry 

1743 Saml Gentry 

1751 Joseph Gentry 

175 1 James Gentry 

*755 Nicholas Gentry 

1756 " Hanover County to Wit : 

Be it remembered that heretofore to wit, at a Court continued 
and held for the said County on Friday the fifth day of March, 
1756 . . . returned to the Court that Mathew Wellman and 
James Gentry two of the freeholders appointed to see the pro- 
cessioning of lands performed within the said parish, that the said 
Mathew Wellman, had refused to have the bounds between his 
lands . . . ." 



22 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

1759 James Gentry 
1759 Nicholas Gentry 
1759 Joseph Gentry 

1759 "... and as there has been several purchases made 
lately, we have with submission mentioned the purchasers viz — 
James Gentry in room of Crenshaw, and Gentry in room of 
Kersey." 

1763 " At a vestry held for St. Paul's parish November 30th, 1763. 
" To George Gentry for keep-g Edy Cauthorn, from 16th April 
till Nov., s£" 
1763 Nicholas Gentry 
1763 James Gentry 

1763 Joseph Gentry 

" At a Vestry held for Saint Paul's Parish November 21st, 
1764. 

1764 To Joseph Gentry Junr. for keeping George Cauthorn 7 months, 
700 Tobo." 

1765 To Joseph Gentry Junr. for keeping George Cauthorn 7 months, 
800 Tobo. 

1767 Nicholas Gentry 

" At a Vestry held . . . ordered into one precinct for pro- 
cessioning the lands of John Sims . . ." 

1767 James Gentry's heirs ... Jo Gentry . . . David 
Gentry ..." 

1771 " James Gentry's heirs — William Gentry, Joseph Gentry, George 
Gentry." 

1775 " David Gentry — appointed (with others) to see the proces- 
sioning." 

1779 David Gentry (Processioner) 

1770 James Gentry's heirs 

1779 William Gentry 

1779 Jos Gentry 

1779 George Gentry 

1784 " At a Vestry held . . . 1784 . . . ordered that 
David Gentry and Wm. Symes do procession . . . District 
No. 15." 

The Cumberland Parish Vestry Book of Lunenburg* County, 
Va., has the following entries : 

1760 " The Vestry held for this parish on March 1st 1760, shows re- 
turns by James Dawes and Henry Venable : The land of Allen 
Gentry : present Wm. and David Gentry, the land of John Brooks 
. . . present Wm. and Allen Gentry. Precinct No. 14." 

" Precinct No. 16 — March 4 — The line between . . . Pres- 
ent himself, Wm. Getoe and Joseph Gentry, at all the three lines. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES 23 

The line between . . . and Everard Dowsinge ; present 
Mathew Burt . . . Joseph Gentry and themselves. . . 
The line between Joshua Hawkins and Joseph Gentry. . . . 
The lands of . . . Nicholas Gentry. 
1761 At a Vestry held for this parish Oct. 30, 1761. 

To Allen Gentry for keeping Ann Nobles, 3 months, 200 lbs. 
Tobo. 
1763 To Joseph Gentry for keeping Stephen Crump 10 months to 

this date 800 lbs. Tobo. 
1763 To Ann Nobles to Allen Gentry, 600 lbs. Tobo. 

Returns of processioning in obedience to order of court of the 
30th of Sept., 1763, of Cumberland Parish . . . the line be- 
tween John Hix ... in presence of John Hix . 
Joseph Gentry . . . the lines between Joseph Gentry and 
Richard Hanson, and between Joseph Gentry and Everard Dow- 
singe . . . Nicholas Gentry's line. 
1768 March 29 — One line between Joseph Gentry and Jeremiah Glenn 
. present . . . Allen Gentry. 

Parish Registers and Other Marriage and Birth Records 
St. Peter's Parish Register of New Kent County, Va. 

Peter, sone to Samuel Gentry bapt. ye ioth of April, 1687. 
Eliz., daugh't to Nich's Gentry bapt. 29 day of August, 1687. 
Nicholas sone of Nicholas Gentry baptiz the 30 May, 1697. 
Mable daut'r of Nich's Gentry babtiz the 13 Dec'r, 1702. 

Orange County, Va. 

Aaron Gentry executed bond for his marriage to Polly Ogg, 
Nov. 18, 1801. 

Aaron Gentry married Peggy Ogg Jan. 13, 1803. 

Susan Jane Gentry married W. E. Jackson Dec. 18, 1830, and 
George E. Gentry was his security. 

Susan A. Gentry married John M. Jordon June 27th, 1853. 

Louisa County, Va. 

Thomas Baker and Milly Gentry, February 11, 1791. 
Richard Gentry and Rebecca Barrett, April 19, 1796. 
John Gentry and Barbara Haggard, January 14, 1799. 
Lewis Padjet and Elizabeth Gentry, January 16, 1810. 
William Gentry and Sallie Seargent, March 11, 1824. 



24 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Rev. William Douglass of the Church of England, in Gooch- 
land County, Va., kept the Goochland Parish Register from 
1753 to July 24, 1797. Having been voted out of his parish in 
1777 on account of his loyalty to the Church of England, he 
retired to his estate in Louisa County, where he continued his 
work and his register. In Louisa he seemed to meet with all 
the Gentry family that are recorded in this register. Not one 
male resident occurs in the Goochland portion. The marriage 
records are: 

May 7, 1780, Thomas Bailey and Nancy Gentry, both of 
Louisa. 

March 22, 1761, George Cothan and Diana Gentry, both in 
this parish. 

The following births and christenings are recorded : 

January 13, 1765, Jeremiah Blacklock and Elizabeth Gentry, 
a daughter named Sarah Cade, born Dec. 9, 1764. 

October 6, 1771, Jeremiah Blacklock and Elizabeth Gentry, 
a son named Hezekiah, born May 2, 1771- 

June 2. 1772, William Camp and Keziah Gentry, a daughter 
named Martha, born February 28, 1772. 

August 28, 1774, Jeremiah Blacklock and Elizabeth Gentry, a 
daughter named Patty, born September 4, 1773. 

April 8, 1781, Nathan Gentry and Marianne Black, a son 
named Wyat, born March 15, 1781. 

July 15, 1781, John Gentry and Milly Edwards, a son named 
Basil Wagstafr, born May 18, 1781. 

September 30, 1781, Nicholas Gentry and Sarah Dickens, a 
child Sarah Perrine, born July 8, 1781. 

September 8, 1783, Thomas Daily and Ann Gentry, a son 
John Hubbard, born December 20, 1782. 

September 8, 1783, John Gentry and Mildred Edwards, a child 
Elizabeth, born August 14, 1783. 

September 8, 1783, William Whitlock and Mildred Gentry, a 
son Euclid, born June 23, 1783. 

June 14, 1784, Nicholas Gentry and Sarah Dickens, a son 
Bobbie, born April 3, 1784. 

April 10, 1786, John Gentry and Milly Edwards, a son Wil- 
liam Gravit, born January 23, 1786. 



\ 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES 2$ 

June 12, 1786, Nicholas Gentry and Sarah Dickens, Benajah 
Brooks, May 22, 1786. 

October 9, 1786, William Whitlock and Milly Gentry, Betsie 
Major, September 12, 1786. 

May 2, 1793, William Whitlock and Milly Gentry, a son Jesse, 
born March 1, 1793. 

April 12, 1791, William Whitlock and Mildred Gentry, a girl 
named Jean, born June 30, 1790. 

" Rev. William Douglass, the author of this register, made his 
last record July 24, 1797, and died February 7, 1798, aged 89 
years and 6 months. He was father's mother's grandfather, 
and these records have been handed down to me and carefully 
preserved for a century." 

Signed Robert W. Lewis. 

G. G. Grandson. 

Jefferson County, Tenn. 

Robert Gentry and Rachel West, November 13, 1804. 
John Gentry and Priscilla Graham, October 1, 1812. 
Silas Gentry to P. Witt, April 18, 1814. 
Charles Gentry to Rhoda Carson, December 7, 1824. 
Martin Gentry to Betsie Rinehart, September 6, 1832. 

Court Records, Jefferson County, Tenn. 

April 5, 1858, M. W. Gentry gave bond as constable in the 
ium of $5000 with I. W. R. Franklin, Robert Hamilton and 
John Seahorn as securities. 

M. W. Gentry was appointed overseer, October 1, 1855. 

Samuel Gentry appointed overseer, July 6, 1858. 

Land Entries, Purchases and Transfers 

The old land books of Virginia show the following patents 
for land granted to Gentrys: 

Samuel Gentry, 300 acres in New Kent County, on the south 
side of York River, between the heads of the branches of said 
river and the heads of the branches of Totopotomoy's creek, 
adjoining the lands of Col. John Page, Edward Hardin and 
Nicholas Gentry, Oct. 21, 1684. 



26 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Samuel Gentry, of Hanover County, 400 acres on north side 
of South Anna River, in said county, Feb. 20, 1723. 

Samuel Gentry, of Hanover County, 196 acres on Beech creek 
in said county, Feb. 22, 1724. 

Nicholas Gentry, 400 acres in Hanover County on Dirty 
Swamp, Dec. 28, 1736. 

Samuel Gentry, 700 acres in Hanover County, on Dirty Swamp, 
July 30, 1742. 

Benajah Gentry, 193 acres in Albemarle, on south of Rivanna 
River, July 6, 1764. 

One of the two old deed books of Hanover County, Va., which 
were preserved from fire, containing the records between 1783 
and 1789, has the following deeds of record: 

James Gentry and Sarah his wife, of Guilford County, North 
Carolina, make deed to land in Hanover County, Va., in 1783. 

George Gentry and Elizabeth his wife, make deed to land in 
Hanover County, Va., dated 1787. 

John Gentry and Nancy Gentry make deed in 1786. 

Louisa County, Va., records show the following bond and 
conveyances of land : 

Moses Gentry and Nicholas Gentry, his surety, gave bond as # 
administrator of Nathan Gentry, which bond was recorded on 
the 13th of March, 1784, in Louisa County. 

David Gentry deeds 100 acres of land in Louisa County to 
John Brooks, Aug. 22, 1748. 

Samuel Gentry made deed to Frank Haggard for 88 acres of 
land in Louisa, Aug. 28, 1750. Said Samuel made several deeds 
about this time without being joined by wife. 

Nicholas Gentry and Jane his wife deeds 160 acres of land in 
Louisa to Robert Barrett, Nov. 28, 1776. 

Moses M. Gentry and Lucy his wife conveys to Lewis Bar- 
rett 150 acres of land in Louisa, Dec. 8, 1777. 

Nicholas Gentry and David Gentry deed to Ro. Barrett 133^ 
acres of land in Louisa County, May 15, 1778. 

The Albemarle County, Va., records show the following con- 
vevances of land: 



INTRODUCTORY NOTES 27 

Benajah Gentry deed from Giles Allegre for 178 acres in 
Albemarle, Jan. 20, 1764. 

Robert Gentry sold to Job Woodson 234 acres of land in Al- 
bemarle on Ivey creek, bounded agreeable to two patents to Sam- 
uel Arnold, dated March 1st, 1743 and Sept. 10, 1764. 

Charles Gentry and Elizabeth Joyner of Albemarle County to 
Russell Jones, deed 200 acres at the head of Meadow creek and 
on the north side of Rivanna River, Oct. 12, 1775. 

Moses Gentry of Louisa County, deed from Samuel Gay of 
Albemarle County, conveying land on south side of the Ragged 
Mountain, on the waters of Hardware creek, in Albemarle, 
March 13, 1778. 

David Gentry of Albemarle deeded land to Martin Gentry of 
same, 178 acres on Doyls River, Nov. 10, 1778. 

David Gentry of Albemarle bought from Thomas Hull of 
Goochland 500 acres in Albemarle, May 14, 1778. 

Martin Gentry and Mary his wife deeded 150 acres of land 
in Albemarle to Bezaleel Brown, Oct. 8, 1789. 

Will of Philip Joyner of Albemarle names among legatees 
grandsons Charles and Jesse Gentry, giving each of them 200 
acres of land in Albemarle, and names granddaughters Eliza- 
beth, Sarah and Mary Gentry, Feb. 19, 1761. 

James Gentry bought 400 acres of land from John Huckstep 
and Aggy his wife, in Orange County, on the Lyne River, which 
is now in Green County, which was cut off from Orange County, 
deed dated April 23, 1810. 

The Lunenburg County, Va., records show, the following 
transfers of lands to and from Gentrys: 

Brooks to Nicholas Gentry, June 4th, 1748. 
Miner to Joseph Gentry, Dec. 5th, 1752. 
Embry to Hezekiah Gentry, July 6th, 1757. 
Embry to David Gentry, July 6th, 1757. 
Hanna to Joseph Gentry, July 6th, 1760. 
Ray to William Gentry, July 12th, 1760. 
Hezekiah Gentry to Allen Gentry, April 6th, 1761. 
Mason to Joseph Gentry, May 5th, 1761. 
Allen Gentry to Adkinson, May, 1764. 
William Gentry to Allen Gentry, Dec. 8, 1763. 



28 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

William Gentry to Adkinson, Dec. 5, 1763. 
Nicholas Gentry to Drummon, Oct. 9, 1766. 

Old Surry County, N. G, before 1800, was a very large one, 
and included all the counties in the state west of it, and a num- 
ber of the present counties south of it. Below are some of the 
land entries and transfers to and from Gentrys in Old Surry 
County : 

1779 Claiborne Gentry — State grant 150 acres 

1792 Nicholas Gentry to Arthur Gentry, land on south side 

Yadkin River 200 " 

1797 Meshack Gentry from Isaac Johnson, land on North 

Hunting Creek 270 " 

1799 Arthur Gentry — State grant on Harris Mill Creek, 200 " 

1799 Allen Gentry — State grant on Deep Creek, 50 " 

1800 John Gentry — State grant 50 " 
1800 Shelton Gentry — from John Roberts 150 " 
1800 Nicholas Gentry to Allen Gentry 150 " 

1800 Nicholas Gentry to John Gentry 250 " 

1801 Shelton Gentry — State grant 100 " 
1799 Richard Gentry, sheriff's deed to lands on south side Deep 

Creek 80 " 

1802 Saml. Gentry, from Lewis Savage, land on south side of 

Dill's Creek 100 " 

1803 Saml. Gentry, from Henry Speer 100 
1802 Arthur Gentry, from Thos. Lyon, on waters of Forbes 

Creek 200 " 

1804 Mathew Gentry, from Isaac Uptegram, on Dill's Creek 100 ' 
1807 Obednigo Gentry, from Henry Day, land on S. fork 

Deep Creek 52* " 

1807 Obednigo Gentry, from Thomas Day 100 " 

1835 Robt. Gentry, from Elizabeth Gentry 70 

1836 Robert Gentry, from Hardin Franklin ill 
1836 Obednigo Gentry to Obednigo Gentry, on South waters 

of Deep Creek 152* 

1836 William Gentry, from Obednigo Gentry, land on Deep 

Creek 100 " 



EXPLANATORY NOTES ON GENEA- 
LOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 

The families are all numbered consecutively by common fig- 
ures placed at the head of each, and are referred to by their 
numbers. 

Names of sons, who appear as heads of families, or otherwise, 
in the next generation, are printed in small capitals, and the 
numbers following them in parentheses are their respective 
family number. 

Roman numerals are used after the names of ancestors to 
designate the generations in which they were born. 

After the name and residence of the head of each family, 
follows his line of ancestors, beginning with his father and run- 
ning backward. The number in parentheses before the name of 
the father, is his family number in the preceding generation. 

The word " of " before the name of the town or county given 
with residence of the father of a family, signifies that he lived 
there, but is deceased. When " of " is not so inserted, the per- 
son is either living in the place named, or no information to the 
contrary is at hand. 

In the third part of this book, a different system of numbering 
has been adopted. The family numbers run consecutively, from 
the oldest down, in each branch, regardless of generation. 



PART II 

NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS 
DESCENDANTS 



1. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Hanover Co., Va. 

The Immigrant. 

The first record of Nicholas Gentry that has been found, is in 
the old Land Books of the Colony of Virginia in the record of 
a patent to land in favor of Samuel Gentry, dated Oct. 21, 
1684, and described as being situated in New Kent County, ad- 
jacent to the lands of Nicholas Gentry and others. The second 
mention of his name is found in St. Peter's Parish Register of 
New Kent County, Va., in the record of the baptism of his 
daughter Elizabeth, dated Aug. 29, 1687. 

The St. Peter's Parish Vestry Book also has a record dated 
May 4, 1689, of the appointment of Nicholas Gentry and others 
as processioners of land in said parish. On Oct. 22, 1701, Nich- 
olas Gentry was allowed by the Vestry of St. Peter's Parish 
for clothes and funeral charges for Mabel Wood. 971 lbs. of 
tobacco ; and in 1703, he is mentioned among the tithables on the 
north side of Totopotomoy's creek. 

In St. Paul's Parish Vestry Book is recorded the appoint- 
ment of Nicholas Gentry as road overseer, Jan. 8, 1709, and on 
March 14 of the same year mention is made that the lands of 
Nicholas Gentry, Joseph Gentry and others are adjacent to each 
other. He is mentioned again in 171 1, 1723, 1734, 1735 and in 
1739. This last mention may possibly be that of his son Nich- 
olas. 

Hanover County was cut off of the western part of New Kent 
County in 1720, and St. Paul's Parish was in that part of New 
Kent which was afterwards made Hanover County. 

It is a tradition in the family that Nicholas Gentry and his 
brother Samuel Gentry were British soldiers, who came to 



32 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

America at the time of the Bacon Rebellion. British soldiers 
landed in Jamestown, Va., in January 1677 and were paid off 
and discharged in the fall of 1683; and the further fact that 
Nicholas Gentry and Samuel Gentry were land-owners of record 
in 1684, tends to corroborate the family tradition. 

Nicholas Gentry may have had other children besides the three 
mentioned. Joseph Gentry, mentioned in 1709 as having adjoin- 
ing land to Nicholas Gentry, may have been one of his sons. 
Below is the form of the record in St. Peter's Parish Register. 

Children : 

1. " Eliz., daught. to Nich's Gentry, bapt. 29 day of Aug., 

1687." 

2. "Nicholas (2), sone of Nicholas Gentry, baptiz the 30 

May, 1697." 

3. " Mabel, daut'r of Nich's Gentry, baptiz the 13 Dec'r, 

1702." 



SECOND GENERATION 

2. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(i) Nicholas I. 

Born in New Kent Co., Va., May 30, 1697. His will was pro- 
bated in Albemarle Co., in April, 1779, and was dated Feb. 20, 
1777. Bezaleel Brown and Benajah Brown were witnesses to 
the will. These Browns were probably related to the Gentrys 
in some way. One of Nicholas Gentry's sons was named for 
Benajah Brown. From his will it appears that he had two wives, 
and two sets of children, and that his last wife was named Jane. 
He owned land in Louisa Co., which was a part of Hanover 
before Louisa was organized in 1742. 

He probably had sold most all of his lands, and made distri- 
bution to his children before his death. He was the owner of a 
number of slaves at the time of his death. 

Children, by first wife : 

1. Moses (3), born about 1722; died 1808. 

2. David (4), born about 1724; died 1812. 

3. Nicholas (5), born about 1726; died 1787. 

4. Mary, married a Mr. Hinson. 

Children, by second wife: 

5. Robert (6). 

6. Elizabeth, born Oct. 14, 1831 ; married Nathaniel Hag- 

gard in 1747. (See page 238.) 

7. Benajah (7), born 1733; died 1831. 

8. Nathan (8). 

9. Martin (9), born Sept. 11, 1747; died April 22, 1827. 

His will also mentions two granddaughters, Jane Timberlake 

and Ann Jenkins. 

Will of Nicholas Gentry (2) 
In the name of God amen, I, Nicholas Gentry of Albemarle Co., Va., 
do make this my last will and testament. Imprimis. My desire is that 
my well beloved wife Jane Gentry, remain in the possession and en- 
gagement of my whole estate, both real and personal, during her life, 
and after decease, I give and bequeath to my son, Martin, a negro girl, 
Milly, and likewise a negro boy, Charles, and the children of said Milly 



34 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

with all of her future children, I bequeath to him and his heirs and 
assigns forever, provided my son Martin Gentry, his heirs, executors or 
administrators, pay to my son Nathan Gentry, the sum of fifteen pounds 
current money of Virginia, to him, his heirs and assigns, to be paid 
yearly, five pounds, until paid. I likewise give to my son Martin Gentry 
my copper still, and my gun, to him, his heirs and assigns forever. 

I give and bequeath to my grandson Bartlett Gentry, son of Martin 
Gentry, one negro boy named Patrick, and to his sister Patty, my grand- 
daughter, I give one negro girle named Minnie, to them and their heirs 
and assigns forever. But if either of my grand children, Bartlett or 
Pattie, die without lawful issue, the said negroes Patrick and Minnie 
descend to my son Martin Gentry, his heirs and assigns forever. 

And further, my will and desire is that my sons Moses, David and 
Nicholas Gentry and my daughter Mary have twenty shillings apiece 
and no more, to be paid out of my estate, and that they, nor any of 
them shall enjoy any more, unless the laws of this country, should en- 
title them to a greater sum; in that case my desire is that they shall not 
possess, nor enjoy any more than the law entitles disinherited chil- 
dren to. 

Further, my desire is that after my will desired shall be executed, 
the remaining part of my estate, shall be equally divided btcween my 
sons Robert, Benajah, Nathan, Martin, and my daughter Elizabeth Hag- 
gard and my granddaughters Jane Timberlake and Ann Jenkins ; which 
two last Timberlake and Jenkins, shall have half as much as my son 
Robert, shall have no more, and Ann Jenkins shall have, as Jane Tim- 
berlake and no more. 

My desire is that my estate appraised, and lastly I appoint my be- 
loved Jane Gentry and my sons David, and Martin Gentry, as execu- 
tors, of this my last will and testament, and I do hereby revoke ah 
former wills made by me, and declare this to be my last will and testa- 
ment. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my 
seal this 20th day of Febry., in the year of our Lord one thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-seven. 
Signed, sealed and delivered 

in presence of Signed Nicholas Gentry. 

Bezaleel Brown, 
Benajah Brown. 

At Albemarle, April Court, 1779, this will was proved by the oath 
of Bezaleel Brown and Benajah Brown, witnesses thereto, and ordered 
to be recorded upon motion of Martin Gentry, as executor therein 
named, who made oath according to law, whereupon he gave bond with 
Bezaleel Brown and Benajah Brown as his securities. 

In obedience to an order of court held the ninth of April 1770, 
we the subscribers being first sworn to value and appraise the 
estate of Nicholas Gentry, deceased, as follows to wit : 
One cow & calf at * 2 S 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 35 

One cow & calf at £20 

One cow & yearling at £25 

One cow at £30 

One sow & two shoats & 5 pigs £ 3 

One mare £ 50 

One negro woman — Millie £300 

One negro boy — Patrick £250 

One negro girl — Becky £200 

One copper still £150 

One smooth-bore gun £20 

One feather bed & furniture & bed stead £ 60 

Three bells, three collars & buckles £ 5 

Twenty-two pewter plates £ 22-12 

One dozen & nine pewter spoons £ 2-10 

One pewter pint-pot £ 1 

Three iron pots & 2 pairs of hooks £ 13-10 

One frying-pan £ 1- 4 

One weight of small steelyards £ 30-10 

One cleft & man saddle £ 3-12 

One woman saddle £ 7 

Three cow-hides £ 1 

Planters tools £ 1 

Carpenters tools £ 4 

Thirty- four hackle teeth & hackle £ 1-7 

One blacksmith's iron & heater £ 1-15 

One spice mortar & pestle & stock lock £ 5-10 

One feather bed & furniture £30 

Seven glass bottles £ 4-10 

A parcel of tea-ware & coffee pot £ 2-2 

A parcel of earthen ware £ 1-16 

Packet of books & Sundry little things £ 2 

One bible & other books & papers £ 6-19 

Two trunks £ 4-6 

Five jugs & two mugs & one butter paddle £ 8 

Two meal sifters & three brass forks £ 2 

A parcel of old lines baskets £ 2 

Tongs & fire-irons £ 2-14 

Five Knives & seven forks £ 3-10 

Ten pounds of wool, six chairs £ 2-14 

Sheep shears & reap hooks & grindstone £ 5-14 

Cart wheels, woolen wheel & linen wheel £ 16 

James Harris,- Wm. Jarman, 

John Maupin, Barzillan Brown. 

In 1779, during our Revolutionary War, prices seem to have 
been very much inflated, judging- from the appraisers values in 
above inventory of personal property. 



THIRD GENERATION 

3. MOSES GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1722, and lived mostly in 
Louisa and Albemarle. Louisa was organized from Hanover 
in 1742, and at that time quite a number of Gentry s had settled 
in Louisa Co. In 1744 the County of Albemarle was organized 
still further west of Louisa, but it was not until about 1760 when 
the Gentrys began to settle in Albemarle. Moses Gentry bought 
land of Samuel Gay, of Albemarle, March 13, 1778, on the old 
Lynchburg road, north of Garland's Store, on the south side of 
Ragged Mountain, and made it his permanent home. He was a 
Ruling Elder in the Cove Presbyterian Church, a large brick 
church building situated about six miles from his home. His 
wife, Lucy Sims, was noted for her religious zeal and church 
work. She lived to be nearly one hundred years of age, sur- 
viving her husband many years. After his death, which occurred 
in 1808, she kept an inn, or tavern, her home being suitably 
located on the main road from Lynchburg to Richmond. 



Children : 

1. James (10). 

2. Moses, settled in Western Kentucky; no issue. 

3. John P. (11). 

4. Benajah (12), born Jan. 10, 1780. > 

5. Claybourn (13), born in 1775. 

6. Nicholas (14). 

7. David, died without issue in 1839, and willed his prop- 

erty to his nephew Addison Gentry, and others. ' 

8. Elizabeth, married Rev. James Haggard, her first cousin, 

and they settled in Kentucky. (See page 238.) 

9. Jane, married James Maxwell of Virginia. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS T>7 

io. Frances, married Thomas Fitzpatrick. 
ii. Joanna, married Joseph Walters. 

12. Polly, married John Gentry, son of her uncle, Martin 
Gentry, and settled in Kentucky. 

Moses Gentry's will was probated in 1808, and final settle- 
ment was not made by the administrator, Edward Garland, until 
1825. 



4. DAVID GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1724. He sold land in 
Louisa, Aug. 22, 1748, to John Brooks. He again deeded land 
in Albemarle, 178 acres on Doyles River, to his brother, Martin 
Gentry, Nov. 10, 1778, and he bought of Thomas Hull of Gooch- 
land, 500 acres in Albemarle, May 14, 1778. He married twice. 
First wife's name is unknown ; second wife was Mary Estes, a 
daughter of Reuben Estes, and they were married about 1758. 
He followed his children to Kentucky in his old age, and made 
his home with his son Richard. He died at about 88 years of 
age, and was buried in the old Gentry graveyard on the old 
Richard Gentry homestead, six miles south of Richmond, in 
Madison Co., Ky. 

Child, by first wife: 

1. William. 

Children, by second wife: 

2. Richard (15), born in Louisa Co., Va., Sept. 6, 1763. 

3. David (16), born in Louisa Co., Va., Nov. 11, 1761. 

4. Winifred, born in Louisa Co., Va. ; married William 

Martin and settled in Madison Co., Ky. They were 
both buried in the old Richard Gentry graveyard, on 
his estate. They were the parents of 13 children. He 
died in 1841, leaving a will which was probated May 
31, 1841. William Martin was a son of James Mar- 
tin and Sarah Harris, daughter of Christopher Har- 
ris of Albemarle. The said James Martin died in 
Madison Co., Ky., in 1799. 



38 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Children : 

a. Richard Gentry Martin; m. Susana Jones, Sept. 15, 1840. 

b. John Martin; m. Mary Barnett, Apl. 5, 1821. 

c. James Martin; settled in Mo. 

d. Lucy Martin; m. Austin Ballard. 

e. Tyre Martin. 

/. Elizabeth; m. Elias Sims. They had among other chil- 
dren : William Sims, known in Audrian Co., Mo., as 
Buffalo Bill Sims. He was a wealthy farmer, and a di- 
rector in the Southern Bank of Mexico, Mo., in which 
Governor Charles H. Hardin was president. 

g. David Martin ; m. Samiramus Brassfield. 

h. Mary Martin ; m. Garland Maupin. 

i. Nancy Martin; m. John Holdman. 

;'. Sarah Martin ; m. Athenasius Thomas, Nov. 21, 1826. 

k. Minerva Martin ; m. second, Mr. Ferrel. She was living 
at Dearborn, Mo., in 1900, at 88 years of age and 
wrote to the author, intelligently and interestingly 
about early times. She had : Richard G. Martin, b. 1834, 
Alexandria, b. 1834, and Winne, b. 1838. 

5. Onie, married first, David Martin, brother of her sister's 
husband, William, and was probably his second wife. 
She had one son, David Martin, born in 1789, who 
was a Kentucky volunteer in War of 1812. David 
Martin died, and she married second, Wm. Blythe, 
about 1793; he came to Kentucky about 1780, from 
the Yadkin River in North Carolina, with Daniel 
Boone on his final trip to Kentucky. He is said to 
have built the first cabin, outside of a fort in Madison 
Co., Ky. It was near Twettys Fort. His will was 
probated in Madison Co., Ky., in 1800. He was a 
son of William Blythe, Sr., and Mary Osborne. 

She married third, John Cain and moved to Mis- 
souri and settled in old Franklin, Mo., in 181 5. She 
died in Howard Co., Mo., in 1823, and was buried 
on the old Cain-Robertson homestead, and John Cain 
died near Kirksville, Mo. 

Children : 

a. David Martin; b. 1718 in Ky. 

b. Maj. James Blythe; b. May 14, 1791. 

c. Polly Blythe; m. Henry Kenote. 

d. Sally Blythe, m. John Cross. Jack Cross, Thomas Pat- 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 



39 



f. 



terson, and other of her descendants lived near Roanoke, 

Mo. 
Minnie Cain; m. Philip Robertson of Orange Co., Va., 

and had six children; three of whom were living in 1900, 

James H. Robertson, Fayette, Mo. ; Mrs. Frances E. 

Lee, Huntsville, Mo., and Mrs. Lida Malone, Fayette, 

Mo. 
Thomas Cain. 
Celia Cain; m. Washington Conner, and had David L., 

Minnie, James and William. 



5. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1728. Married twice, first 
wife's name not known. Second wife was Sarah Dickens. First 
children all born in Louisa Co. except Blackston, who was born 
in Bedford Co., Va., in 1763. He probably returned to Louisa 
Co. after second marriage. 



8. 

9- 
10. 

11. 



Children, by first wife: 
David (17), born 1754. 
Nicholas (18), born 1756. 
John (19), born 1758. 
Martin (20), born 1760. 

Nancy, married Thomas Bailey, March 7, 1780. 
Blackston (21), born 1763. 

Children, by second wife : 

Henry, born about 1772 ; married Pina Hall in Bullitt 
Co., Ky., in 1804. 

Zachariah. 

Wesley. 

James Richard (22), born in 1779. 

Sarah Perrine, born July 8, 1781 ; married James Smith 
about 1799, and moved to Hardin Co., Ky. They had 
among- other children a son, Washington Smith, who 
had a son, G. W. Smith, the father of Dr. David 
Thomas Smith, now living in Louisville, Ky. He at- 
tended the Gentry reunion at Meramec Highlands in 
Missouri, in 1899. 



40 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

12. Robert, born April 3, 1784. 

13. Benajah Brooks, born May 22, 1786. 

Wesley Gentry and Benajah Brooks Gentry came to Missouri 
at an early date and settled in Carroll Co., Mo. Wesley had one 
son and Benajah B. had three sons and four daughters. 



6. ROBERT GENTRY, of Jefferson Co., Tenn. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Hanover Co. about 1730; married Judith Joyner, 
daughter of Philip Joyner of Albemarle Co. In 1776 he conveys 
234 acres of land on which he lived in Albemarle, to John Wood- 
son, in which his wife Judith joined. He is described as a plan- 
ter of the parish. The will of Philip Joyner dated Feb. 19, 1761, 
names, among other legatees, his grandsons Charles and Jesse 
Gentry, giving each of them 200 acres of land, and names his 
granddaughters, Elizabeth, Sarah and Mary. The land on which 
the Virginia University stands is a part of this legacy. He 
moved to Tennessee and settled on the north side of the French 
Broad River, 4 miles east of Dandridge, Jefferson Co., Tenn., in 
1783. He married second wife Rachel West, in Tennessee, Nov. 
13, 1804. She had no children. " Ramsey's History of Ten- 
nessee," page 277, mentions Robert Gentry among the first set- 
tlers in Jefferson Co., in 1783. 



Children, by first wife 
Charles (22,). 
Jesse (24). 
Bartlett (25). 
Martin (26). 

Elizabeth, married Mr. Murror. 
Sarah, married Mr. McGork. 
Mary, married Mr. Drake. 



Will of Robert Gentry, of Record in Jefferson County, Tenn. 
In the name of God, amen. I, Robert Gentry, of the State of Tenn., 
and County of Jefferson, being in good health of body, and sound dis- 
posing in mind and memory, praise be to God for the same, and being 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 4I 

desirous to settle my worldly affairs, while I have strength and capacity 
so to do; I make and publish this my last will and testament, hereby 
revoking and making void all former wills by me at any time heretofore 
made. 

First and principally I commit myself into the hands of my Creator, 
who gave it, and my body to the earth to be interred at the discretion 
of my executors hereinafter named. 

And as to such worldly estate, wherewith it hath pleased God to 
entrust me, I dispose of the same as follows, to wit : 

Imprimis, I will and desire that all my just debts be paid punc- 
tually. Item : I give and devise to my beloved wife Rachel Gentry, the 
house and plantation I now live on, whether cultivated or uncultivated,. 
or that may be so at any time of my decease, to be hers and to her use* 
during her widowhood, as also two feather beds and furniture sufficient 
for winter. One of said feather beds, and furniture, together with her 
own wearing apparel, to be at her own disposal forever. As also during 
her widowhood one horse-beast, her choice of all the horses I may die 
possessed of. Also two cows and calves, two other cow-beasts, two 
years old; one woman's saddle and bridle, one chest and one cupboard and 
all the Delph, Glass and tin furniture, that usually stands therein. One 
table and two chairs, one butter dish, and large pewter basin and two 
small pewter basins, and three pewter plates, three knives and forks, two 
pots, one dutch oven, cattle and hogs I may die possessed of, two sets 
of plow lines, two sets of gear, and ten dollars in cash, one negro boy 
Jerry and a negro girl named Azzy, with all the crop housed or unhoused, 
that may be on the aforesaid plantation at the time of my decease. 
The above enumerated property is designed for the support of my said 
wife, Rachel Gentry, during her widowhood. And my will and desire 
is that after her marriage or death, the whole of the above described 
property be sold and divided as hereinafter mentioned and described. 

Item, I give and devise to my son, Martin Gentry and his heirs 
and assigns forever, the dwelling house at present occupied by himself, 
as also the land he now holds in cultivation, together with the planta- 
tion and tract of land first above mentioned, after the marriage or 
decease of my said wife, and all my other property not otherwise dis- 
posed of. 

Item, I give and devise to my granddaughter, Molly Shelton, and 
the children of her body, a certain negro girl named Azzy, and her 
increase if any she may have. 

Item, I will and devise that all the remainder and residue of my 
estate of what nature, kind or quality soever not above mentioned and 
described, be sold and divided into seven equal parts or shares and so 
distributed to my sons Charles Gentry, Jesse Gentry, Bartlett Gentry 
and Martin Gentry, the three daughters and two sons of my daughter 
Elizabeth Murror, to have one seventh part thereof equally divided 
among the whole of them; the children of my daughter Sarah McGork, 
one seventh part thereof equally divided among the whole of them. My 



V 



f 

42 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

grandson Robert Drake and his two sisters, Sarah and Prudence, one 
seventh part thereof, equally divided between the three; and the other 
four sevenths equally between my four sons above mentioned share and 
share alike. 

And I do hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint my beloved wife 
Rachel Gentry, Thomas Galbraith and John Seaborne, executrix and 
executors of this my last will and testament. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this the 
^V- 9th day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 

and eleven. 

Robert Gentry. (Seal.) 
Signed, sealed and acknowledged 
by the said testator as his last will 
and testament in presence of us. 
William Moon, 
John Parrott, 



7. BENAJAH GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., in 1733, and his will was proved 
in Albemarle Co., January, 1831. He lived for a few years in 
Louisa Co., but finally bought a home on Biscuit Run, three 
miles south of Charlottesville, Va., in Albemarle Co., in the year 
1764. He married first, a Miss Austin; second, a Miss Jones 
of Culpepper Co. He was a successful planter and owned a 
number of negro slaves. He was a man of fine character, well 
beloved by his neighbors, a leading member of the Baptist 
Church, and very active and zealous in religious work. He could 
read his Bible from memory, and always led the singing in 
church. In 1817 he transferred all his property to his son Rob- 
ert, although his death did not occur until 1831, at the great 
.age of 98. He had six children by first wife. 

Children : 
I. Mary, married Jeremiah Cleveland, a brother of Col. 
Benjamin Cleveland, a hero of the Battle of King's 
Mountain, and who was such a terror to the North 
Carolina Tories during the Revolution. 

Children : 

a. Benajah. 

b. William. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 43 

c. Martha; m. Archibald Lingo. 

d. Sarah ; m. Watson. 

e. Elizabeth ; m. first Gillam ; 2nd Sowell. 

f. Ann ; m. Billups. 

2. Elizabeth, married Wm. Goodwin. 

3. Annie, married Benjamin Sowell. 

4. Sallie, married George Hardin. 

5. Jane, married Thomas Fulture, who settled in Ken- 

tucky. 

6. William (27), married Miss Carr and settled in Dick- 

son Co., Tenn. 

7. Thomas (28), married Miss Carr and settled in Dickson 

Co., Tenn. 

8. James (29), married Elizabeth Tooley and moved to 

Kentucky. 

9. John (30), married Miss Thurman, died in 1845. 

10. Robert (31). 

11. Kate, married her cousin, John P. Gentry, and moved 

to Madison Co., Ky. 

12. Patsey, married Elijah Dawson of Nelson Co., Va., and 

had Robert, Elizabeth, Martin and James, and settled 
in Callaway Co., Mo. 

13. Frances, married Wm. Dunkum ; their daughter Susan 

married Ralls Abell of Albemarle Co., Va., and his 
daughter Julia Abell married Fred G. Adams, several 
times treasurer and collector of Jackson Co., Mo. 

14. Susan, died single. 

Benajah Gentry's will was probated Jan. 3, 1831, in Albe- 
marle Co., Va. It names as legatees his children, Robert, Fan- 
nie, John, William, Thomas, Katy, Jane Fulture, and Sarah 
Hardin. His executors were William Dunkum, James and Rob- 
ert Gentry, his sons. 



Note. Mrs. Martha Lingo, a daughter of Jeremiah Cleveland and 
a granddaughter of Benajah Gentry, was living at Forestville, Ten- 
nessee, when she was eighty-five years of age. She was then the mother 
of ten children, her eldest daughter being sixty-two, and the mother of 
ten children, her eldest granddaughter was forty-three, and was the 



44 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

8. NATHAN GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1741 ; died in Louisa Co. in 
1784. Moses Gentry, with Nicholas Gentry as security, gave 
bond as his administrator on March 13, 1784. The Goochland 
Parish Register, kept by Reverend William Douglass, who lived 
on his estate in Louisa Co., after the war, shows the name of his 
wife, Marianna Black, and the date of the baptism and name of 
his son, Wyat Gentry. 

Children : 

1. Patrick (32), died Dec, 1820. 

2. Wyat (33), born March 15, 1781. 



9. MARTIN GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(2) Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Sept. 11, 1747, in Hanover Co., Va. ; moved to Kentucky 
with his family and settled near Richmond, Ky., where he died 
April 22, 1827. He married Mary Timberlake, daughter of 
Philip Timberlake, January 23, 1766; she was born Aug. 12, 
1748. He sold 150 acres of land to Bezaleel Brown, situated in 
Albemarle Co., Oct. 8, 1789, and probably came to Kentucky 
about this time. 

Children : 
1. Betsie, born Dec. 12, 1766; married Daniel Maupin, 



mother of ten children, and her eldest great granddaughter was twenty- 
two and had one child. 

" Grandma Lingo at eighty-five was the head of a family of ten 
children, fifty-two grandchildren, forty-four great grand children, and 
one great, great grandchild, in all a house of 107. At this time she 
was hale and hearty, and loved to lend a helping hand to all noble and 
meritorious enterprises. She lived to say, what few women could say, 
' Arise my daughter and go to thy daughter, for thy daughter's daughter 
has a daughter.' 

" My grandmother Lingo, nee Cleveland, lived many years after the 
foregoing was written about her, and at her death she had 120 living 
descendants." 

Mrs. Laura Bell Trace y. 
No. 2908 St. Vincent Ave., St. Louis, Mo., 1899. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 45 

third son of Daniel Maupin and Mary Elizabeth Dab- 
ney of Albemarle Co., Va., and a grandson of Daniel 
Maupin and Margaret Via, and a great-grandson of 
Gabriel and Mary Spencer Maupin. Gabriel Maupin 
was a general in the French Army, and left France 
on account of being a Huguenot, and settled in King 
William Co., Va., in 1699, and died there in 1720. 
Mary Spencer Maupin was a daughter of Earl Spen- 
cer of England. Mr. J. L. Bishop of Selma, Ala., who 
has written a book on the Maupins, is authority for 
the Maupin facts. 

Children : 

a. Garland; m. Mary Martin, daughter of Winifred Gentry 

Martin. 

b. James — settled in Mo. 

c. Susan; m. David Gentry, an early Mo. pioneer, and a 

brother of Gen. Richard Gentry (See No. 56). 

d. Sallie; m. Joseph Dulaney, and had among other chil- 

dren: William H. Dulaney of Hannibal, Mo.; G. M. 
Dulaney of Moberly, Mo. ; D. M. Dulaney, b. 1816. 

e. Elizabeth; m. David Crews. 

f. Patsie; m. William Dinwiddie, Jan. 30, 1800. 

g. Delilah; m. William Dulaney, May 10, 1804. 
h. Polly; m. Richard Cornelison, Oct. II, 1810. 
i. John; d. in 1822. 

;. Martin; d. in 1824. 

k. Talitha; m. Jefferson Gates, Jan. 2, 1826. 

2. Josiah (34), born June, 1768. 

3. Bartlett (35), born March 16, 1770. 

4. Patsie. born May 22, 1772; married Daniel Maupin, son 

of John Maupin, and a cousin of her sister Betsie's 

husband, and had: 

Children : 

a. Joel; m. Martha Gentry, daughter of Christopher Gentry, 

of Virginia. 

b. Martin. 

c. Nimrod; m. Miss Harris. 

d. James. 

e. Lilburn; m. Miss Kent. 

f. Gentry. 

g. Fannie; m. Dabney M. Jarmon. 
h. Pollie ; m. John Hayden. 

i. Betsie. 



4 6 



THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



5 
6. 

7 
8 

9 

10 

ii 



Richard, born March 19, 1774. 

Suckey, born Jan. 26, 1776; married Humphry Jones. 
John (36). 

Pollie, born April 2, 1781. 
Joel, born Dec. 22, 1787. 
Martin (37), born Dec. 20, 1789. 

Nancy, born July 15, 1783; married Nathan Lipscomb, 
Dec. 25. 1800, and had: 



Children : 

a. William S. ; b. Nov. 28, 1804; m. Mary Jones, Sept. 21, 

1826. 

b. Dabney; b. Dec. 4, 1806; m. Susan Simpson, Jan. 17, 

1830. 
c. Louisa; b. July 26, 1809; m. Duke W. Simpson, Sept. 22, 
1825. 

d. Elizabeth; b. Dec. 15, 1810; m. Israel Jackson, Oct. 4, 

1827. 

e. Joel; b. Oct. 21, 1813; m. Henrietta Harris, Sept. 1, 1840. 

He lived in Jackson Co., Mo., south of Dallas. One of 
his sons, J. H. Lipscomb, of Kansas City, Mo., m. 
Dorothy Crumbaugh, a granddaughter of General 
Richard Gentry. 

/. Nathan; b. Dec. 15, 1815; m. Mary F. Haggard. 

g. Josiah; b. Nov. 11, 1844; m. Eliza Oldham. 

h. Susan; b. Aug. 15, 1819; m. Amos Dethridge. 

i. Nancy; b. May 15, 182 1 ; m. Dr. T. S. Moberly, Mch. 5, 
1844, and had one son, Thomas Shelton Moberly of 
Ky.; b. July 18, 1855; d. Aug. 7, 1895. 

;'. Pattie; b. June 15, 1829. 

The will of Martin Gentry was probated May 28, 1827, in 
Madison Co., Ky. He names wife Mary, grandson Thomas J. 
Gentry, sons Bartlett, Josiah, John and Martin, daughters Patsie 
Maupin, Susana Jones, Nancy Lipscomb, and granddaughters 
Patsie Dinwiddie, Susana Gentry, Pollie Corneilson, Bettie 
Crews and Sallie Dulaney. 



FOURTH GENERATION 

10. JAMES GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(3) Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., about 1767 ; married Miss Lyons in 
Virginia; moved to Madison Co., Ky., with a part of his family 
after the close of the War of 1812. He died of cholera in Win- 
chester, Ky., in 1833. 

Children : 
1. Jesse (38), born 1789; died Aug. 13, 1862. 
Harman (39), born in Virginia. 
Moses (40). 
James (41). 
William, settled in Ohio. 
Garland P., died in Kentucky. 
George W. (42). 

Elizabeth, married William Bybee of Monroe Co., Mo. 
Pollie, was blind, remained single. 
Evelyn, married Walter Scanlin. 

Dorothy, married Anthony Mullins in 1819; they lived 
in Pettis Co., Mo., in 1830, near the farm of Reuben 
E. Gentry. To their son, Moses Gentry Mullins, born 
in 1820, recently deceased, the writer is indebted for 
an interesting account of the early days in Pettis Co., 
and a sketch of the pioneer, Reuben E. Gentry, the 
ancestor of the Pettis Co. Gentrys. The youngest 
daughter of Moses Gentry Mullins, Mrs. Abbie J. 
Roof, lived at Center View, Mo., and a grandson, 
Howe Gentry Little, lives at Magnolia, Mo. 



2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 

8 

9 
10 

11 



11. JOHN P. GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(3) Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia ; raised his family in Madison Co., Ky., three 
miles east of Richmond ; married his cousin Kate, daughter of 
his uncle Benajah Gentry. 

Children : 
1. James M. (43), born Oct. 27, 1804. 



4§ THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 

8 

9 

10 



Nelson, born Dec. 6, 1806. 

Benajah, born Feb. io, 1808. 

Lucy, born May 12, 1812. 

Evelyn, born Sept. 7, 1814. 

Manery, born Jan. 7, 1817. 

Fannie, born March 16, 1818. 

Staunton, born May 18, 1820; died young. 

Thomas J. (46), born Aug. 17, 1823. 

Catherine, born April 9, 1826. 



12. BENAJAH GENTRY, of Clark Co., Ky. 

(3) Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia, Jan. 10, 1780; married Pauline Bush in 
1812, and settled on a farm near Richmond, Ky. He was a 
millwright by trade, and built a mill for Thomas Jefferson while 
he was President. He was a member of the Baptist Church. 
Died on his farm May 10, i860. 

Children : 

1. Pleasant (47), born 1813; died 1897. 

2. Lucy Ann, born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 24, 1814; 

married Thos. W. Carr; he died, leaving her in good 
circumstances. She has six children. She was still 
living in 1904 with her daughter, Mrs. Emma Embry, 
near Richmond, Ky. 

3. Claybourn (48), born 1816; died 1897. 

4. Benjamin T. (49), born 1820; died 1885. 

5. Nelson Bush (50), born 1823. 



13. CLAYBOURN * GENTRY, of Decatur Co., Ind. 

(3) Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., in 1775 ; died in Indiana in 1852 ; 
married Jane Maxwell in 1799 in Virginia, daughter of Bezaleel 

* The name Claybourn as a Gentry given name comes, no doubt, from 
some relation to the famous Claiborne family, descendants of Col. Win. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 49 

Maxwell, a native of Scotland. He was the superintendent of 
a large plantation, known as Hart's quarter for about 14 years; 
there all his children were born. In 1790 he moved to his own 
farm adjoining the village of Coveville, in the foothills of the 
Blue Ridge, where he lived until 1835 ; then moved with part 
of his family to Decatur Co., Ind., where he had located gov- 
ernment land. 

Children : 

1. William (51), born June 27, 1800. 

2. David (52), born March 21, 1802. 

3. Dabney (53), born April 13, 1804. 

4. Winston, born 181 1; settled in Illinois. 

5. Mildred, born March 3, 1806, in Virginia; came to In- 

diana in 1835; married Charles Barrett in 1826. She 
came to the Gentry reunion at Crab Orchard in 1898, 
then 92 years old. She had: (a.) Ann Eliza, who 
married Jacob Morgan, and (b.) Jane, who married 
Aaron Davis. 



14. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(3) Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia; married Mary, daughter of Bezaleel Max- 
well ; died leaving three children. 

Children : 

1. Robert Nicholas, died in childhood. 

2. Addison, married Lucy Lake, sister of Shelton F. Lake 

of Virginia. 

3. Edwin ; no issue. 



15. RICHARD GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(4) David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., Sept. 26. 1763 ; died on his estate in 

Claiborne, Colonial Secretary of Virginia. Among the descendants of 
Moses Gentry of Virginia, the name seems to be Claybourn, while the 
Revolutionary soldier of North Carolina and Tennessee spelled his name 
Claiborne. 



50 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Madison Co., Ky., Feb. 12, 1843. He was a Revolutionary sol- 
dier, and enlisted from Albemarle Co., Va. He served first for 
two months as a private under Capt. William Dalton, in the fall 
of 1780, at the age of 17. He probably served as a substitute 
for Bezaleel Brown. In May, 1781, he enlisted and served under 
Captains John Miller, Benjamin Harris and Woodford, under 
Colonels Richardson and Boyer, until after the surrender of 
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, when he was discharged at Fred- 
ericksburg after serving six months. He made application for 
a pension Aug. 13, 1832, which was granted. 

After returning from the war, he spent a year on his father's 
farm, and on April 5, 1784, he married Jane Harris, a daughter 
of Christopher Harris and a granddaughter of Major Robert 
Harris of Albemarle Co., Va. She was born Sept. 18, 1763, 
and died Sept. 17, 1821. He rented some land from Bezaleel 
Brown, broke it up and put in a crop of tobacco. He had a 
hard struggle with the weeds and tobacco worms, until his friend, 
Bezaleel Brown, discovered his trials, and put his gang of ne- 
groes into young Dick's tobacco patch for a day, and cleaned 
it up in good shape for him. He raised a fine crop of tobacco, 
and by the help of Mr. Brown in marketing it, he made enough 
money to outfit and join a party of emigrants for Kentucky, the 
next spring. They made the journey to Kentucky by way of 
Cumberland Gap and the Wilderness Route ; his young wife Jane 
rode on horseback and carried her baby, Reuben, in her lap ; he 
walked and led or drove another horse, packed with all their 
worldly effects except his faithful hound and his rifle, which he 
carried on his shoulder. The trip was made without special in- 
cident, danger or hardship. On reaching Kentucky, they stopped 
for about a year at Boone's Fort in Clark Co., Ky. In 1787 he 
secured 300 acres of land in Madison County, Kentucky, in the 
midst of a rich canebrake and built his cabin. His second son, 
David, was born in Clark Co., at Boone's Fort, and his third son, 
Richard, who afterwards became Major General Richard Gentry 
of Missouri, was the first child born in the new cabin home in 
the canebrake. 

He got his start making salt and trading with the emigrants. 
There was no money in the country, and salt was scarce and in 




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u 

w 



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w 

C 

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w 

u 

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NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 5 1 

great demand, and took the place of a circulating medium ; it 
became a measure of value as tobacco did in Virginia. Realiz- 
ing the value of salt, he provided himself with two brass kettles, 
and with his two horses and his rifle he traveled west to Logans 
Fort and Harrods Station, and thence via Bullitts trace to Bul- 
litts Salt Lick, a total distance through an Indian country of 
75 miles. He made salt by evaporating the salt water, and when 
he had made about six bushels of salt, a load for his two horses, 
he would return to his home and trade with the emigrants. A 
peck of salt was the price of a yearling calf, and it was in such 
demand that he soon had fifteen to twenty head of cattle, and he 
repeated his trips to the Salt Lick. 

In a few years he had acquired a large number of cattle, which 
he fattened on the cane and wild peavine. His mark was a crop 
and underbit in each ear, and was known in Kentucky and Mis- 
souri for many years as the old Gentry mark. A government 
fort was established in a few years near where Cincinnati now 
is, and a government agent bought of him a large number of his 
cattle for beef for the soldiers, paying him the first money 
he had found since he came to Kentucky. He left his wife and 
babies at the settlement at Boone's Fort, and went back to Vir- 
ginia and brought out to Kentucky his father's family, consist- 
ing of his father David, his brother David, and sisters Winnie 
and Onie, and three negroes, Isaac, Pompey and Patsie. He 
continued to prosper, bought more land and more negroes, and 
in 1804 he built the large two-story brick residence which is still 
standing on his old estate. It was the third brick house built in 
Madison Co., Ky. 

In the early days in Kentucky he made portholes in his cabin 
to shoot through, in case of an Indian attack, and his wife was 
taught to use the rifle. There were no mills in those days; 
hand mills were used to grind the corn for bread, and hominy 
was made in a mortar. The baby's cradle was made by cutting 
down a buckeye tree and cutting it out like a sugar trough. 
General Richard Gentry, his third son, loved to boast in his 
political campaigns in Missouri, " that he was born in a cane- 
brake, rocked in a sugar trough, and raised in good democratic 
style." 



52 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Richard Gentry often spoke of his early American ancestor 
and his brother as the two old " British Red Coats." Richard 
Gentry was proud of the fact that he had been a soldier of the 
Revolution — an American patriot. He religiously celebrated the 
Fourth of July as a holiday for all his family as well as his 
slaves. The drum and the fife were played by his negroes, while 
he waved the flag as a formal part of the annual ceremony, in 
which all had to take part. He loved to relate that he was one 
of the guards that marched off the British prisoners after the 
surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and to tell how his heart 
swelled with pride while the ragged, barefooted Colonial troops 
marched off, as their prisoners, the splendidly uniformed British 
Regulars. 

He was for many years a member of the Baptist Church, but 
left it with most of his family in 1833, to join the new church 
of Alexander Campbell. He continued to prosper until he owned 
over 1000 acres of fine blue grass land and a great many slaves. 
He traded largely in mules, cattle and hogs, which he collected 
and sent to market on foot, driven by some of his sons, either 
to Cincinnati, Louisville, Richmond, Va., or Charleston, S. C. 

He was the father of 19 children, 16 sons and 3 daughters, and 
all but one lived to be grown and married ; 12 by his first wife, 
Jane Harris, and 7 by his second wife, Nancy Guthrie, whom he 
married when he was 58 years old. She was a daughter of Na- 
thaniel Guthrie, who came to Kentucky from Amherst Co., Va., 
in 1805, where she was born April 12, 1799, and married Rich- 
ard Gentry Oct. 12, 1821. He died Feb. 12, 1843, an( 3 she 
married March 25, 1854, Michael Farris, who died April 1, 1857. 
She applied for a pension March 23, 1858, as the former widow 
of Richard Gentry, which was allowed. She died at Sedalia, 
Mo., Dec. 16, 1881. 

He was buried on his estate, in what was known as the old 
Gentry graveyard. Green Kerley, a warm friend of the family, 
had charge of the burial ; a brick vault was made in the grave, 
and large flat rocks covered the coffin. Mr. Kerley's wife was 
Sallie Hawkins, a sister of Ann Hawkins Gentry, the wife of 
General Richard Gentry. 

Richard Gentry had light hair and blue eyes, and was of a 
florid complexion ; he was over six feet in height, and weighed 




Mrs. Nancy Gentry Bush 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 



53 



about 220 pounds. He was a great hunter, and most all of his 
sons loved the hounds and the chase. Eight of his sons settled 
in Missouri before it was a state, and reared large and influ- 
ential families — Reuben in Pettis, David, Richard and James 
in Boone, Rev. Christy and Rodes in Ralls ; Joshua in Marion, 
and William James in Ray County. 

Children, by first wife: 

1. Reuben Estes (55), born in Virginia, June 6, 1785. 

2. David (56), born in Kentucky, Feb. 11, 1787. 

3. Richard (57), born Aug. 25, 1788. 

4. Christy (58), born Oct. 14, 1790. 

5. James (59), born June 5, 1792. 

6. Joseph McCord, born March 25, 1794; died April 25, 

1795- 

7. Nancy, born Oct. 3, 1795; married Dec. 19, 181 1, Jere- 

miah Bush, born Jan. 20, 1789; died 1842. He was 
the son of Ambrose Bush, born in Virginia, April 8, 
1748, and died in Kentucky, Feb. 10, 1815, and Lucy 
Gohlson, who came from Orange Co., Va., to Ken- 
tucky in 1780, and settled in Clark Co., opposite 
Boone's Fort. Jeremiah Bush was also a descendant 
of the Reverend Richard Bush, a noted Baptist minis- 
ter of Virginia. Nancy Gentry Bush was a woman 
of rare intelligence and great strength of character; 
a noble Christian woman, honored and loved by all who 
knew her. 

Children : 

a. Richard Gentry Bush; b. Nov. 4, 1812; m. Ann Mitchell, 

and had: (1) Melissa; b. Oct. 3, 1850, and she m. 
Riland Dillard Hunter, and had: (a) Bettie Irene; 
b. Apl. 19, 1873; (b) Richard Bush; b. Aug. 14, 1874; 
(c) David Chenault; d. and e. Jane and Mary Lucy, 
twins, b. Dec. 28, 1883. 

b. Felix Glenroy Bush; m. 1st. Almira Deaborne, and had: 

(1) J. Porter Bush, now living in Oregon; (2) Nancy 
Ann, who m. Mr. Holliway; (3) Richard Rodes, who 
m. Miss Hedgecoat of Texas ; m. 2nd, Sarah Todd 
and had: (4) Lucretia Jane; (5) Mary Taylor; (6) 
Felix Glenroy, Jr., who m. Miss Elkins, and lives in 
Clay Co., Texas. 

c. Glorenna Whipple Bush; m. Reuben Elkin of Clark 



54 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Co., Ky., and had (i) Nancy Jane, who m. Younger 
Norris of Ky, and had (a) Charles, (6) John (c) 
Oliver, (d) Ella, (e) Grant; (2) Ezekiel ; m. a Nor- 
ris, (3) Lavinia; m. John B. Noland, and their daugh- 
ter Eva m. George Ballard; (4) Sidney; m. Laura 
Jocelyn. 

d. James Harris Bush; b. July 12, 1818; d. in 1866; m. 
Julia Franklin in 1837. He was six years County Judge 
and represented Clark Co., Ky., eight years in the State 
legislature; they had: (1) Richard H. Clay; b. Apl. 
13, 1843; m. July 15, 1862, Tilly Smith, a daughter of 
Wm. Smith and Jane Gentry, and a granddaughter of 
Joseph Gentry, and had (a) Julia, (b) Ella Boone, and 
(c) Wm. Beckner; (2) Ella Bush; b. 1845; m. Ham- 
ilton McCoy of Indianapolis, Ind., and had (a) Julia, 
(b) Rose and (r) Harriet. 

c. Ambrose Gohlson Bush; m. 1st, Kittie Hampton, and 
had: (1) Minerva Whipple, (2) Julia C, (3) Martha 
Jane ; m. 2nd, Martha J. Hampton, and had : (4) 
Catherine, (5) Frances Almira, (6) Christy Gentry, 
(7) Nancy G., (8) Valentine R., (9) Richard Lewis, 
(10) James H., (11) Oliver E., (12) Wm. McCoy, 
(13) Daisy, (14) Floyd, (15) Pattie; m. 3d, Fannie 
A. Shields and had: (16) Glorenna M. 

/. Oliver E. Bush; m. 1st, Dorinda Crimm, and had six 
children, three of whom are living: (1) Rodes, (2) 
Sue Herndon, (3) Henry; he m. 2nd Harriet Hedge- 
coat and had : (4) Oliver H. Bush, Jr. 

g. Maj. William Martin Bush; b. June 20, 1827 near 
Boonesborough, Clark Co., Ky; d. at Greenville, Texas, 
Oct. 3, 1900; m. Sept. 6, 1848, Nancy Gohlson Elkin; 
she d. Nov. 24, 1856. In 1855 he moved with his 
family to Collen Co., Texas, where he lived for forty- 
five years, and no man ever stood higher than he in 
his county. At eighteen years of age he joined Cap- 
tain John S. Williams' company of Volunteers for the 
Mexican War at Winchester, Ky., and took part in the 
battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. He enlisted 
in the Confederate Army in the Civil War and served 
from 1861 to June, 1865, first as lieutenant, then as 
captain; he was promoted to major for bravery on 
the battlefield and afterwards to lieutenant-colonel. 
The first year of the war his regiment served in the 
Indian Territory, Arkansas and Missouri. He took 
part in the hard fought battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., 
and many skirmishes. The second year he was sent 
to Louisiana, where he was soon promoted to a lieu- 




Major William Martin Bush 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 55 

tenant-colonel. He commanded his battalion in the 
battle of Mansfield, La., and captured Nim's crack bat- 
tery from the very center of the Federal lines. In this 
terrific battle, many were killed and wounded and 2500 
Federal troops were taken prisoners. Then came the 
battle of Pleasant Hill, in which Palignac's brigade under 
command of Col. Bush saved the day. The Con- 
federates followed the enemy to Yellow Bayou, where 
Palignac's brigade charged them and was severely 
defeated ; Major Bush was severely wounded. Out of 
twenty-six field and line officers in Alexander's regi- 
ment in the three engagements, nineteen were either 
killed or wounded, and the men of the line suffered 
quite as badly. After the charge at Yellow Bayou 
only eighty-four men rallied out of the regiment, and 
many of them were badly wounded. After the war 
Major Bush returned to Allen Co., Texas, and en- 
gaged in farming and stock raising; was very success- 
ful in business, became quite wealthy and left a large 
estate. 

Children : 

(1) Leslie; m. Lula Franklin, and had: Ella, Lillian, 

William and others. 

(2) Walter Hamilton Bush; b. Dec. 3, 1852; m. 

Nancy B. Brooks of Miss., and lives at Green- 
ville, Tex. 
h. Valentine White Bush; b. Nov. 12, 183 1 ; d. in 1900; m. 
1st, Prudence Grant and had: (1) Henry G. and (2) 
Lelia, who m. Harry Woodford; m. 2nd, Fannie 
Nichols; m. 3rd Kate Hampton, and had: (3) Lewis 
Hampton; b. Sept. 25, 1871, and (4) Valentine V; b. 
May 19, 1879. The last two are prominent lawyers of 
Winchester, Ky. 
i. Jeremiah Porter Bush; b. Nov. 2, 1836; m. in i860, Anna 
E., daughter of his uncle Joshua Gentry, of Palmyra, 
Mo. He was engaged as a telegraph operator until 
1867, when he bought land near Monroe City, where he 
lived until his death. His wife died in 1892 and he 
died about 1906. He was a good farmer, and a fine 
social companion, fond of hunting and fishing as well 
as following the hounds. Children: (i) James F., 
(2) Charles Christy, (3) Jessie, (4) Sarah G., m. 
J. P. Green, (5) Ambrose, (6) Kate N., (7) Annett H. 
;. Jane Frances; m. Jerry Robinson; he came from Ky. to 
Mo., soon after the Civil War and settled at Belton, 
Mo., and engaged in farming and merchandise, and was 
quite successful. He still lives at Belton, Mo. They 



56 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

had one child: (1) Frank Gentry Robinson; b. Sept. 
I, 1850. He lived at Belton for a number of years, en- 
gaged in farming, merchandising and trading in stock. 
About 1895 he came to Kansas City and became a promi- 
nent live stock commission merchant at the Kansas City 
stock yards. In 1906 he was president of the Kansas 
City Live Stock Exchange. He is a successful man, 
highly honored and respected, and possessed of a fine 
estate. He m. 1st, Fanny Lillard, of Danville, Ky., 
and had: (a) Lillard, (b) Fanny; b. Mch 3, 1883, and 
(c) Patricia; b. Jan. I, 1885; m. 2nd, Clara Bush, of 
Chicago, in 1902, a charming and cultured lady. 

8. Joshua (60), born June 6, 1797. 

9. Joseph (61), born Aug. 29, 1799. 

10. Overton (62), born June 30, 1802. 

11. Rodes (63), born Aug. 5, 1804. 

12. Jane Harris Gentry, born March 28, 1806; married 

first, Valentine White of Madison Co., Ky., Jan. 15, 
1824; he died Jan. 8, 1834. Married second, Major 
James Blythe, her first cousin, Oct. 16, 1834; her 
father, Richard Gentry, was a brother of his mother, 
Onie Gentry Blythe. Major Blythe was a man of 
ability and large means. He bought and improved the 
old Gentry homestead. 

Children, first marriage : 

a. Wm. H. White; b. Oct. 8, 1825; d. Mch 24, 1865. 

b. Richard J. White; b. Dec. 15, 1827. 

c. Durrett White; b. Nov. 18, 1829; d. Oct. 26, 1861. He 

was murdered by Union soldiers just prior to his 
leaving for the Confederate army. He had been com- 
missioned a colonel, and his uniform and regalia was 
new and beautiful. James Sims, who was thought to 
be instrumental in his murder, if not actually his 
murderer, was afterwards hanged by unknown per- 
sons, and upon his back was pinned a placard : 
"Hanged for the murder of Col. Durrett White." 

d. Nancy Jane White; b. 183 1; d. in 1903; m. Hon. John 

Duncan Harris, Sept. 20, 1849. She was a grand- 
daughter of Jane Harris, wife of Richard Gentry, and 
he was a grandson of John Harris ; Jane and John being 
children of Christopher Harris, the Kentucky pioneer. 
They were therefore second cousins. The old Richard 
Gentry homestead of about one thousand acres, Major 




Mrs. Xaxcy White PL 



ARRIS 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 57 

James Blythe's estate, and the estate of John D. Har- 
ris' father, Maj. Wm. Harris, all adjoining each other, 
came into the possession of Maj. John D. Harris and 
comprised an estate of about 3000 acres of finely im- 
proved lands. The old Gentry homestead remained in 
the family for 117 years, until after the death of Maj. 
John D. Harris. They lived in the splendid old brick 
residence known as " Blythewood," built by Maj. 
James Blythe in 1840. Its beautiful lawn of large pine 
trees, planted also in 1840, and the long row of negro 
cabins in the rear, suggested the olden days before the 
war. 

Mrs. Nancy Jane Harris was a woman of cul- 
ture and refinement, and of a dignified and queenly 
appearance. She was a splendid hostess and had a 
well-ordered household. At the time of her death she 
had well trained negro servants, men servants, cooks 
and housemaids, that had never lived off the estate and 
were descendants of the old negroes Isaac, Pompey and 
Patsie, that old Richard Gentry brought with him from 
Virginia before 1800. In sight of their home stood the 
old two-story brick residence of Richard Gentry, over 
the front door of which is a marble slab, on which 
is engraved the words, " R. Gentry, built in 1804." 
The writer attended the fiftieth anniversary of the 
wedding of Maj. Harris and his wife in Aug., 1899. It 
was a fine example of the entertainments given in the 
old days before the war, when the best society, the 
culture, elegance and wealth was to be found on the 
large landed estates in the country and not in the cities 
and towns. Major Harris was a strong man of fine 
capacity, educated as a lawyer, and had broad and 
liberal views. He was elected a State Senator in 1885 
and made a strong race for Governor of Kentucky 
against Simon Boliver Buckner, but was defeated. 

Children : 

(1) Wm. Valentine White Harris; b. 1858; d. in 

1864. 

(2) Pattie Harris; m. Col. Samuel H. Stone, State 

Auditor of Ky. in 1898. They now live in 
Louisville. They had (a) Nannie Rodes Stone; 
b. Dec. 15, 1873; d. Aug. 8, 1874; (b) William 
Harris Stone; b. Apl. 19, 1875; d. June 4, 1901. 
(c) James Clifton Stone; (d) John Harris 
Stone; b. July 10, 1886; d. Sept. 18, 1900, (e) 
Samuel Hanson Stone, Jr. 



58 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

(3) John Duncan Harris, Jr., 1865-1883. 

(4) Mary Harris ; m. Cassius M. Clay, Jr., who owns a 

large landed estate, near Paris, Ky. He is a 
wealthy man ; represented his county in the 
legislature in 1871-5, was president of the State 
Constitutional Convention in 1891, and ran for 
Governor in 1895 on the Democratic ticket. 
They have two children: (a) Cassius M. Clay 
(b) John Harris Clay. 



A GOLDEN WEDDING 

1849— H. W.—1899 

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Harris 

request the pleasure of your Company 

at their 

Golden Wedding 

Wednesday evening, Sept. 20th 

from 7 until 12 o'clock 

Blythewood 

Near Richmond, Ky. 

John Duncan Harris Nannie J. White 

A very large number of invited guests honored this occasion and 
brought rare gifts, golden and otherwise. An extra train at Richmond, 
met the train arriving there from Paris and elsewhere at 7 p. m., and 
also carried a large number of Richmond guests in addition to those 
going in their carriages. 

The Lexington Herald says : The golden wedding, on Sept. 20th, 
of Hon. and Mrs. John D. Harris was perhaps the most enjoyable gath- 
ering in the history of Madison Co. Numberless lights swung on the 
lawn from the boughs of stately old trees, and the bright moon-beams 
were made soft by their luster. The guests, borne by a chartered train, 
were greeted by delightful music from Saxton's band, wafted through 
the whispering leaves of the pine wood. Historic old Blythewood was 
purchased by Major John D. Harris from Mrs. Joseph C. Anderson and 
thereby has rested in the same family for over a century, which has 
spared no time or means to render it most beautiful. 

The grand old house, with its long porches, was decorated with ferns, 
palms, roses and lengthy silken sprays of golden rod. 

The bride and groom, assisted by their daughters and their hus- 
bands, Auditor and Mrs. Samuel H. Stone and Hon. and Mrs. Cassius 
M. Clay, Jr., received in the same parlor where they were married fifty 
years ago. The bride looked most lovely in her gown of black velvet 
and white lace, holding in her hand her old wedding bouquet holder 




Hon. John Duncan Harris 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 59 

filled with bride roses and lilies of the valley. The groom, in his suit of 
broadcloth, was handsome indeed. No one would take them to be over 
fifty. The bridesmaids were most handsome, robed in their elegant wed- 
ding gowns, and carrying loose bunches of pink roses. Back of the 
bridal party hung a huge monogram, H. W., of white and gold roses, and 
on either side were the dates 1849-1899 in flowers of gold, while among 
other designs, were " two hearts that beat as one." 

There were present many from a distance. Eight of those present 
were at the marriage ceremony fifty years ago : Shelby Irvine, his two 
sisters, Mrs. Wm. Irvine, Mrs. White, and Mrs. McDowell, Mrs. W. B. 
Smith, Col. Caperton, Samuel Parks and Curtis Burnam. Among the 
guests from a distance were, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Shelton, Mr. and 
Mrs. Richard Shelton, Mrs. Bettie Skinner of St. Louis, and Mr. 
Richard Gentry and Miss Elizabeth Gentry, of Kansas City. The next 
evening these St. Louis and Kansas City relatives were entertained 
again at Senator Harris' home, then at Mrs. Bush's, in Winchester; 
Friday night at Mrs. Col. Simm's in Paris, and the next day at Mrs. 
Cassius M. Clay, Jr.'s at " Auvergene " and then at Mr. Smith Gentry's 
at Lexington. 

Children, second marriage : 

e. Mary T. Blythe ; d. unmarried. 

f. Lucy Ann Blythe ; b. Dec. 20, 1837 ; m. Wm. E. Simms, 

of Paris, Ky., Sept. 27, 1866. She is a woman of su- 
perior intelligence, and of education and culture. He 
was a man, prominent and successful, of large and 
varied business affairs. He left a fine estate when he 
died, June 25, 1898. He represented the Ashland dis- 
trict of Ky. in Congress before the Civil War. He 
was Lieut-Colonel of the 1st Battalion of Confederate 
Cavalry from Ky. and was also a Confederate Con- 
gressman. 

Children : 

(1) Lucy Blythe Simms; unmarried. 

(2) Wm. Erskine Simms ; m. Lucy Fullerton Alex- 

ander, of Ky. 

(3) Edward Francis Simms ; m. Lilly Blain, nee 

Weir. 
William and Edward Simms are both graduates of 
Yale University. 

g. Dovey Blythe ; b. Feb. 15, 1846 ; m. Joseph C. Anderson, 

June 18, 1867; he was b. in 1830 and d. in 1891. 

Children : 
(1) James Blythe Anderson; b. Dec. 25, 1868; m. 
Alice Simms, of Bourbon Co., Ky., at Ashville, 



60 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

N. C, June 16, 1898, and had: Joseph Caldwell 
Anderson; b. May 3, 1899, and Elizabeth B. 
Anderson ; b. Jan. 4, 1903. 

Children, second marriage: 
Josiah Collins (64), born Aug. 19, 1822; died 1851. 
Robert Richard (65), born March 1, 1824. 
Charles Walker (66), born Feb. 26, 1826. 
Valentine White (67), born May 22, 1827. 
Tyre Martin, born July 5, 1830; died Jan. 4, 1844. 
William James (68), born Feb. 26, 1832. 
Mary Jane Estes, born Oct. 29, 1834; married Reuben 

Engleman. She died in May, 1854, leaving child, 

Mary Clark, who died without issue. 



13 

14 

15 
16 

18 
19 



EXCURSUS— HARRIS. 

The ancestors of Jane Harris, wife of Richard Gentry of 
Madison Co., Ky. : 

Robert Harris, the immigrant, came from England to Vir- 
ginia about 1650. In 1660 he married Mrs. Mary Rice, for- 
merly Miss Mary Claiborne, a daughter of William Claiborne, 
first Colonial Secretary of the Virginia Colony. Their son, Wil- 
liam Harris, married Temperance Overton, daughter of Wil- 
liam Overton of Glen Cairn in Hanover Co., Va. William 
Harris was a large land owner in Virginia from 1713 to 1725, 
as shown by the old land office records, and his father-in-law, 
William Overton, also had large land grants, received from head 
rights for transporting immigrants to Virginia. William Over- 
ton was a son of Col. Robert Overton of England, born in 1609. 
Distinguished himself in battle of " Marston Moor " ; governor 
of Hull in 1647; accompanied Cromwell to Scotland in 1650, 
and commanded a brigade at battle of Dunbar ; governor of Edin- 
burg; scholar and soldier; intimate friend of Milton, who cele- 
brated his exploits in the " Defensio Secunda." See Dictiomry 
of National Biography. 

Maj. Robert Harris, a son of William Harris and Temper- 
ance Overton Harris, was born in Hanover Co., Va., and lived 
there until 1742, when he was appointed by the King as sur- 
veyor of the new county of Louisa, which was cut off from 
Hanover Co. in 1742. He resigned his office as a member of 




Mrs. Jane Gentry Blythe 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 6l 

the House of Burgesses from Hanover, and settled in Louisa 
Co. He afterwards moved to Albemarle Co., Va., where he 
owned a large estate at his death in 1765. He was a vestryman 
of Fredricksville Parish for a number of years before his death. 
His will is of record in Albemarle Co., Va., in Will Book No. 2, 
page 185, and was recorded Nov. 8, 1765. His will was wit- 
nessed by Daniel Maupin, John Maupin, John Maupin, Jr., Wil- 
liam Maupin and Connerly Mullins. His son, Tyre Harris, suc- 
ceeded him as vestryman of Fredricksville Parish. 

Children : 

1. Christopher Harris. 

2. Tyre Harris. He settled in North Carolina and be- 

came High Sheriff of Orange Co., of that Colony, 
under Governor Tryon, and was present and took 
part with him at the battle of the " Alamance," May 
18, 1771. 

3. Robert Harris. 

4. William Harris. 

5. Mary, married James Harris. 

6. Mourning Glen, married John Jouett. 

7. Nancy, married Joel Crawford ; they were parents of 

the Hon. William Harris Crawford of Georgia.* 

8. Lucy, married William Shelton ; among their descend- 

ants were Thomas Shelton Moberly of Kentucky, Rev. 
R. M. Dudley, once President of Georgetown College, 
and A. C. Caperton, editor of the Western Recorder. 

9. Sarah, married Capt. John Rodes, May 24, 1756, 

born Nov. 16, 1729, son of John Rodes and Mary 
Crawford of Virginia. They are the ancestors of the 
Kentucky and Missouri families of Rodes. A large 
number of prominent families are descended from this 
estimable lady, Sarah Harris Rodes. Among them are 
the Stones, Brecks, Estills and Rollins of Missouri and 
Kentucky. 

10. Anna, married John Dabney. 

11. , married William Dalton. 



* William H. Crawford was U. S. Senator, Sec. of Treasury under 
Monroe, and Candidate for President in 1824. 



62 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Christopher Harris, son of Major Robert Harris, married 
first, Mary Dabney ; second, Agnes McCord, in Virginia. She 
was of the same family as the McCords of St. Joseph, Mo. 



Children, by first wife: 

Dabney, of Surry Co., N. C. 
Sarah, married James Martin. 
Robert, married Nancy Grubbs. 
Mourning, married Foster Jones. 
Christopher, married Elizabeth Grubbs. 
Mary, married George Jones. 



Children, by second wife : 

7. Overton, married Nancy Oldham, daughter of Richard 

Oldham, a Madison Co. Pioneer of 1776. 

8. John, married Margaret Maupin ; was a Captain in 

Revolutionary War and settled in Kentucky in 1790. 
Was prominent as a politician, and became Circuit 
Judge of Madison Co. His youngest son, Maj. Wil- 
liam Harris, born May 16, 1805, married Malinda 
Duncan and had one son, the Hon. John D. Harris 
of Madison Co., Ky., who married Nancy Jane White, 
his second cousin, a granddaughter of Richard Gen- 
try of Madison Co., Ky. 

9. Benjamin, married first, Miss Jones; second, Miss 

Bergin. 

10. Barnabas, married Elizabeth Oldham. 

11. Samuel, married Nancy Wilkerson. 

12. James, died 1798. 

13. Jane, married Richard Gentry in Albemarle Co., Va., 

April 1, 1784, and in 1786 they joined a party of emi- 
grants for Kentucky, and settled in Madison Co. Her 
husband, Richard Gentry, served as a Revolutionary 
soldier in Capt. Benjamin Harris' (her brother's) 
company. 

14. Margaret. 

15. William, married Ann Oldham. 

16. Isabella, married John Bennett. 




Major James Blythe 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 63 

The authority for the principal part of this Harris data is the 
" Genealogy of the Harris Family of Madison Co., Ky.," by the 
Hon. William Chenault of Richmond, Ky. 

Among the names of the grantees mentioned in the second 
Charter of Virginia, granted by King James in 1609, were the 
following: 

Capt. Thomas Wyat. 

John Robinson. 

John Elkin. 

John Hawkins. 

Charles Hawkins. 

Thomas Harris, Gent. 



EXCURSUS— CLAIBORNE 

The Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 1, page 313, has the 
following in regard to the Claibornes of England: 

" The ancient family from which Col. William Claiborne, the 
famous Colonial Secretary of Virginia, descended, derived its 
name from the Manor of Cleburne or Cleborne, in Westmore- 
land, near the river Eden. The Manor is named in Doomsday 
Book in 1086, and the family was for many generations lords 
of this place, and of Bampton, Cundale, Kine and others." 

" The first of the line appearing in the pedigrees is Hervey 1 , 
to whom Henry II. granted a moiety of the Manor of Cliborne, 
and who was father of Alanus 2 de Cliborne (A. D. 1216), father 
of Herveus 3 , father of Geoffrey 4 Fitz Hervey, father of Robert 5 
de Cleborne, Knight of the Shire (M. P.) for Westmoreland, 
1384, and married Margaret, daughter of Henry, Lord of Cun- 
dale and Kyme, and had issue: John 6 de Clyborne (A. D. 1380), 
father of Rowland Cleburne 7 (A. D. 1423), father of John 8 de 
Cleburne, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thos. Curwen 
of Workington Hall, Cumberland (descendant of Malcom II., 
King of Scotland, whose grandson, Duncan I., was murdered by 
Macbeth in 1041). John 8 died Aug. 4, 1489, leaving a son, 
Thomas 9 Cleborne (A. D. 1521), father of Robert Cleburne of 
Killerly in Yorkshire, 1533, married daughter of and co-heiress 
of George Kirkbride of Kirkbride, and had : Edmond 11 Claborne 
of Killerly, who married Anne Layton of Dalmaine, County 



64 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Cumberland, and had Richard 12 Cleburne of Killerly, County 
York. Rebuilt Cleburne Hall, 1567, and died Jan. 4, 1607; mar- 
ried Eleanor, daughter of Launcelot Lancaster of Lockbridge. 
She was descended from the Barons of Kendal. They had 
Edmond 13 Claiborne of Cleburne Hall, married Sept. 1, 1576, 
Grace (born 1558, died 1594), daughter of Sir Alan Bellingham 
of Helsington and Levins. They had : William 14 Claiborne, born 
about 1587, who came to Virginia in 1621 with Sir Francis Wyat 
when he was appointed Governor. In 1625 he was appointed 
Secretary of State for the colony and member of the Council, 
and he held the latter place in 1627 and from time to time to 1660 
(see Henning I., 144-136-153). In 1642 the King appointed him 
Treasurer of Virginia for life." 

He had a contest with the proprietors of Maryland which 
lasted for twenty years, and caused some bloodshed and consid- 
erable loss of property and bitterness between the people of 
Virginia and Maryland. 

Col. William Claiborne married Elizabeth Buller and had 
issue: 1. William; 2. Thomas; 3. Leonard; 4. Jane; 5. Mary. 
He died 1676. 

5. Mary Claiborne* married second, Robert Harris, in 
1660; issue: William Harris, and he married Temper- 
ance Overton in Hanover Co., Va., and they had Maj. 
Robert Harris, who married Mourning Glenn, and 
they had among eleven children their oldest, Christo- 
pher Harris of Albemarle Co., who married second, 
Agnes McCord, and had, among sixteen children, 
Jane, who married Richard Gentry, April 1, 1784, in 
Virginia, and settled in Madison Co., Ky., in 1786. 



16. DAVID GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(4) David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., Nov. 11, 1761. Lived in Albemarle 
Co. a number of years, and moved to Kentucky in 1787. His 
will was probated in Madison Co., Ky., Dec. 6, 1813. He mar- 
ried first, Jane Kendrick, and second, Jane Haggard,f his first 
cousin. He bought claims for Kentucky lands from speculators, 



* See Claiborne pedigrees. f See Gentry-Haggard, page 238. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 65 

before leaving Virginia, and after settling on the lands and im- 
proving them during ten years' occupation, he found that Brutus 
Clay claimed them, by virtue of a prior entry; and after much 
litigation he lost the lands by decree of court. 

Child, by first wife : 

1. James (69), born about 1782 in Virginia; died 1809. 

Children, by second wife : 

2. Bright Berry (70), born Sept., 1784, in Virginia. 

3. Pleasant (71), born Feb. 19, 1787, in Virginia. 

4. Elizabeth, born Jan. 6, 1788; married David Haggard 

and had seven sons and five daughters. 

5. Mary, born March 5, 1790; married William Haggard 

and had five sons and seven daughters. Her oldest 
son was David Gentry Haggard, who lived in Colon, 
Saunders Co., Neb., in 1900. His only daughter, Mrs. 
S. Eugene Brown, lives in Pooleville, New York. 
Elizabeth and Mary Gentry's husbands were brothers, 
sons of William, and grandsons of Edward, who was 
a brother of Nathaniel Haggard. 

6. Oney, born Aug., 1792 ; died unmarried. 

7. David (72), born April 27, 1794. 

8. Richard (73), born Sept. 4, 1795. 

9. Martin (74), born Nov. 12, 1798. 

10. Jane, born Aug. 7, 1802 ; died 1855. 

11. Winnie, born Feb. 20, 1805; died 1887. 

12. Bailey (75), born March 11, 1807; died Sept. 8, 1852. 

The three girls, Oney, Jane and Winnie, were never married, 
and lived together, separate from the rest of the family, after 
they were grown. The Madison County records shows a joint 
will of Oney, Jane and Winnie Gentry, which was probated 
Feb. 5, 1855, and is in the following language: 

Will 

" We, Oney, Jane, and Winnie Gentry, of the County of Madison 
and State of Ky., do make this our last will and testament; we hereby 
devise to the survivor of us all, the estate either of us may own at our 
respective deaths." Given under our hands this Nov. 6th, 1852. 

Signed Oney Gentry, 
Jane Gentry, 
Winnie Gentry. 



66 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

17. DAVID GENTRY, of Jackson Co., Tenn. 

(5) Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., in 1754; he was raised in Bedford 
Co., Va. ; married Sarah Johnson, May 12, 1807, and died in 
Overton Co., Tenn., July 16, 1847. He was a Revolutionary 
soldier, enlisted from Bedford Co., Va., in 1780; served under 
Capt. Lewis and Col. Benjamin Cleveland, and was at the battle 
of " King's Mountain," and the " Cowpens." His widow drew 
a pension from date of his death. This data is mainly from 
Bureau, of Pensions at Washington. 



18. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Virginia. 

(5) Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., about 1756. There is a record at 
Richmond, Va., of payments made to Virginia State troops in the 
Revolutionary War in which a Nicholas Gentry's name appears 
as a private artilleryman. Payment was made for his services 
to William Biggers, June 8. 1787. 

The following also appears in Henning's Virginia Statutes, 
Vol. 12, page 598, Chapter LVIII: 

"An act concerning the personal estate of Nicholas Gentry, 
deceased," passed Dec. 13, 1787. 

" I. Whereas, Nicholas Gentry hath lately become felo-de-se, 
whereby his goods and chattels are subject to escheat and for- 
feiture, and application hath been made to this assembly to vest 
the same in his wife and children, which it is judged expedient 
to do, under certain circumstances. 

" II. Be it therefore enacted, that the person obtaining ad- 
ministration on the said estate of Nicholas Gentry, deceased, 
shall hold his goods and chattels, subject, in the first place, to 
the payment of his just debts, and the residue thereof, to the 
use and for the benefit of the widow of said Nicholas Gentry 
and his children equally." 



19. JOHN GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(5) Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., about 1758. He settled in Bullitt 
Co., Ky., and raised a family. Many of his and his brother 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 67 

Blackstone's descendants are still in Bullitt and adjoining coun- 
ties. He was a Revolutionary soldier; was paid for his services 
by the State of Virginia Aug. 9, 1786, as shown by the Virginia 
State records. 

Children : 

1. John (76). 

2. Wyatt, settled in Clinton Co., Ind., and had a son, Dr. 

James Gentry of Frankford, Ind. 

3. Martin {77). 

4. Elizabeth. 



20. MARTIN GENTRY, of Oglethorpe Co., Ga. 

(5) Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia, married Miss Loree in 1785, in Oglethorpe 
Co., Ga. He was born in 1760 and died in 1863, one hundred 
and three years old. He was a Revolutionary soldier. 



1 

2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
11 



Children : 
William. 
Richard. 
Seaborn. 

Alfred, married about 1834, and settled in Mississippi. 
Perry. 
John D. 
David. 
James. 

Ransom (78). 
Nancy. 
Jane. 



21. BLACKSTON GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(5) Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Bedford Co., Va., in 1763. He moved to Bullitt Co., 
Ky., in 1797. He first married Mary Bunch; second, Nancy 
Hough, Sept. 18, 1816. He died in Stilesville, Ind., in 1844. 
His children by second wife settled in Morgan and Hendricks 
Counties, Indiana. 



68 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



Children, by first wife: 
James, had sons, Quinton, Taylor and John. 
Joseph (79). 

Nicholas (80), born in Louisa Co., Va., Dec. 16, 1790. 
Martin (81). 
Samuel (82). 
Elizabeth, married John Giles, born 1790; their son, 

Gentry Giles, born Dec. 8, 1819, lived at Rockport, 

Ind., and was a wealthy man. 

7. Mary. 

8. Ellison. 

9. Garland, moved to Indiana in 1832; then to Illinois. 

He left a large family in the two states. 



10 
11 
12 

13 
14 

15 

16 



Children, by second wife: 
Monroe. 
America. 
Eliza. 
Sarah. 
John. 

Jeremiah (83). 
Hezekiah. His descendants are in Indiana. 



22. JAMES RICHARD GENTRY, of Adair Co., Ky. 

(5) Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., about 1779; came to Kentucky as a 
young man and settled in Adair Co. 

Children : 

1. Samuel L. (84), born Oct. 5, 1815; died Feb. 5, 1883. 

2. John B. (85), born in 1809. 

3. George, lived at Dover, Tenn. 

4. America, married Buckner Smart of Carroll Co., Mo. 



23. CHARLES GENTRY. 

(6) Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., about 1755; he probably moved 
with his father to Tennessee in 1783. His father settled in Jef- 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 69 

ferson Co., Tenn. There is a record of a deed for land in Clark 
Co., Ky., bought by Charles Gentry of Benjamin McFarland of 
Tennessee in 1805. He is mentioned as one of the legatees in 
his father's will in 181 1, of record in Dandridge, Jefferson Co., 
Tenn. He sold the land in Virginia he inherited from Philip 
Joyner in 1875. 

There is a persistent tradition in the family that a Charles Gentry 
was stolen by the Indians, married a Cherokee Indian and lived with the 
tribe in Tennessee before 1800. He may be the ancestor of some promi- 
nent wealthy Indians of the name Gentry, living in the State of Oklahoma. 



24. JESSE GENTRY. 

(6) Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., about 1757. He and his brother 
Charles inherited by will from their grandfather, Philip Joyner 
of Albemarle Co., Va., 200 acres of land each, being the same 
land on which the University now stands. Jesse sold his part 
of this land in 1783, and probably went to Tennessee. He 
is mentioned as a legatee in his father's will in 181 1. It is prob- 
able that he finally settled in Southern Kentucky. 

There are quite a number of Gentrys in Illinois, Missouri and Kan- 
sas who are descended from a Jesse Gentry, who was born about 1780 
and lived in Kentucky, where his children were born. They were : 

1. William ; d. in Ky. — a Methodist minister. 

2. Thomas ; lost in Mexican War ; a Methodist minister. 

3. Elijah B. ; d. Greenville, Ills.; a Methodist minister. 

4. Robert Preston ; d. Montgomery City, Mo. ; he was a Baptist 
minister. 

5. Ann Elizabeth ; m. a Scoggins. 

This Jesse Gentry moved from Ky. with his family to Ills, probably 
near Greenfield, where he died. He is very likely a grandson of Robert 
Gentry of Tenn., and a son of either Charles or Jesse. Bartlett (25), had 
a son Jesse, who was born about 1805 and lived for a time in Jackson, 
Tenn., and raised a family. 

Robert Preston Gentry, above, had : 

a. James Gentry ; d. Canie, Kans. 

b. Marina J. ; Grand Tower, Ills. 

c. Elijah B. ; Montgomery City, Mo. 

d. Jesse M. Gentry, St. Louis, Mo. ; he was born in Union Co., 



JO THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Ills., about 1830. He lived in Louisiana, Mo., from i860 to 1891. He 
served as captain in the Union army under Col. D. P. Dyer. He left 
three children: Neil Gentry, of Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. W. O. Gray, 
of Bowling Green, Mo., and Mrs. Viet Eppstein, of Booneville, Mo. 

A. M. Gentry, who died in 1900, a plainsman, and N. C. Gentry, his 
brother, who died in 1875 at Salem, Oregon, are sons of one of the four 
preacher sons of Jesse Gentry. J. M. Gentry, of Wichita, Kansas, and 
his sister, Mrs. Eva Thompson, of Erie, Kansas, are children of A. M. 
Gentry. Mrs. L. A. Blattenberg, of Spivey, Kansas, is a granddaughter 
of Mrs. Ann Elizabeth Scoggins, a daughter of Jesse Gentry. 



25. BARTLETT GENTRY, of Belfant, Ala. 

(6) Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., about 1761. He emigrated to 
Tennessee with his father, who was one of the first settlers of 
Jefferson Co., Tenn., in 1783. He raised his family in White 
Co., Tenn., about 18 miles from Sparta, and in his old age he 
moved to Alabama with some of his children, and died near 
Belfant in that state. 

Children : 

1. Robert (86). 

2. Joyner (87). 

3. John (88), died in 1854. 

4. Bartlett (89), born in 1803; died in 1894, in Seymour, 

Mo. 

5. Jesse, b. in White Co., Tenn., about 1805 ; married and 

settled in Jackson Co., Tenn., and raised a family. 

6. Jennie. 

7. Betsie. 

8. Polly. 

9. Sallie. 

10. Katie, married Wesley Green and had : Mrs. Sallie 
Thorn of Confederate, Ky. ; Mrs. Rosa Gist of Calera, 
Ala. ; W. J. Green of Alabama, and Henderson P. 
Green of Prairie Grove, Ark. Mrs. Thorn's daughter, 
Mrs. Rosa Lawrence, lives at Old Hickory, Conway 
Co., Ark. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS Jl 

26. MARTIN GENTRY, of Jefferson Co., Tenn. 

(6) Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va. Moved to Tennessee with his 
father in 1782. In his father's will he was given the home place 
near Dandridge in addition to other property, and his descend- 
ants still own the old homestead, which was situated on the 
north side of the French Broad River, four miles east of Dand- 
ridge. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. 

Children : 

1. John (90). 

2. Charles (91). 

3. Martin, married Betsie Rhinehart, Sept. 6, 1832. His 

descendants still live in East Tennessee. 

4. Wesley; single. 

5. Mary. 

6. Betsie. 

7. Martha. 



27. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Tennessee. 

(7) Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va. ; married Miss Carr, and settled in 
Dickson Co., Tenn. Some of his descendants still reside there. 

Children : 

1. Taz. 

2. Benajah. 

3. Walter. 



28. THOMAS GENTRY, of Dickson Co., Tenn. 

(7) Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va. ; married and settled in Dickson 
Co., Tenn., where he lived for many years. 

Children : 

1. Anderson. 

2. Benajah. 



72 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

29. JAMES GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Ky. 

(7) Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., Oct. 15, 1786; married Elizabeth 
Tooley in Virginia, Aug. 4, 1808. He served as a soldier in 
the War of 1812, before leaving Virginia. After the war he 
settled in Monroe Co., Ky., on Meshach Creek, and became a 
wealthy land and slave owner. He died Jan. 15, 1861. 



1 
2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 

11 

12 



Children : 
William (92). 
John Walter. 

Robert (93), married Dilema Moody. 
Benajah. 
James. 
Charles. 

Nancy, married a Gentry. 
Jane, married a Gentry. 
Frances, married a Sabens. 
Polly, married a Page. 
Elizabeth, married a Tooley. 
Martha, married a Vandiver. 



30. JOHN GENTRY, of Crozet, Va. 

(7) Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., about 1790; married a Miss 
Thurman and settled on a farm near Crozet in the western 
part of the county, where he lived until he died in 1845. His 
descendants still own and live on this farm. He was a soldier 
in the War of 1812. 

Children : 

1. Robert M., born in 1820; never married, and was still 

living in 1900 at Crozet, Va. 

2. James C, born in 1817; married Miss White, and lived 

at Crozet, Va. Died July 12, 1899, at 82 years of 
age. He was a successful farmer and fruit raiser, 
noted as the grower of the famous Albemarle Pippin. 
Many of his descendants still live in Albemarle Co. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 73 

3. John W., married Miss Dawson. 

4. Elijah, married Miss Jones and settled in Illinois. His 

son, Isaac J. Gentry, is now living in Grant City, Mo. 

5. Benajah, married Miss Browning and settled in the 

State of Ohio. 

6. Nancy, married Mr. Lancy. 

7. Martha, married Mr. Browning. 



31. ROBERT GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(7) Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in 1788 in Albemarle Co., Va. ; married Mary Wing- 
field, daughter of Francis Wingfield, in 1821. She was born in 
1800 and died in 1874. He owned fine lands and a number of 
negroes. His plantation was situated on the Rivanna River. 
He was a gentleman, a fine character, a devout Baptist, highly 
respected and beloved by all who knew him. Died in 1879. 

Children : 

1. Benajah, born Nov. 2, 1821 ; died May 7, 1847. 

2. Albert Hudson (94), born April 20, 1823. 

3. Elizabeth Jane, born Feb. 8, 1825 ; married L. Sowell. 

4. Robert Thomas, born Oct. 21, 1826, of Fluvana Co., 

Va. 

Children : 

a. Edwin. 

b. Robert. 

c. Harry. 

d. Tucker. 

5. Mary Catherine, born July 19, 1828; married Goodman. 

6. Martha V., born Aug. 21, 1830. The writer visited her 

in 1899, and obtained much valuable information about 
the Virginia Gentrys. She had never married, and 
lived with her brother, Albert H., on his farm four 
miles south of Charlottesville, Va. 

7. Susan E., born Oct. 18, 1832 ; single. 

8. Andelusia, born May 15, 1835; married Shiplet. 



74 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

9. James W., born Sept. 6, 1838. Three of his daughters 
moved to California about 1900. 

10. Charles Henry, born Jan. 18, 1840; single. 

11. Maria Frances, born March 24, 1843; died May, 1857. 



32. PATRICK GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

(8) Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born about 1780 and died in 1820 in Louisa Co., Va. The 
records of said county show that Nathaniel Perkins was his 
administrator, and that his estate was appraised Dec. 18, 1820 
by Edward Casley, Benjamin Henson, and Joseph Bickley. He 
seems from this appraisement to have been a merchant. His 
wife was Mary Margaret Porter. 

Children : 

1. William B. (95), born 1802; married Sallie Sargent, 

March 11, 1824. 

2. John P., married Miss Mary Wright. 

3. James, bachelor. 

4. Mary Margaret, born 1809; died 1891 ; married Eli- 

jah Butler. 

Children : 
a. William; b. John; c. George Wythe; 
d. Elizabeth; e. Sallie; f. Robert. 
g. Charles; h. Alexander; i. Deuzella. 



33. WYAT GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

(8) Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., March 15, 1781. He was baptized 
April 8, 1781, by the Rev. William Douglass of the Church of 
England, as shown by the Goochland Parish Register kept by 
him. Having been voted out of this parish in 1777 on account 
of his loyalty to the Church of England, he retired to his estate 
in Louisa Co., where he continued his work and his register, and 
from this date many of the Gentrys are found in his register. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 75 

This data confirms the traditions that the older Gentrys, during 
the Revolution, were very loyal to the Church of England. Yet 
several of the third generation of Gentrys were Nonconformists. 
Moses Gentry was a Presbyterian, and Benajah Gentry was a 
devout Baptist, while their brother Nathan seemed to adhere to 
the Church of England. The entry in the register is as follows : 
"April 8th, 1781, Nathan Gentry and Marianna Black, a son 
named Wyat," born March 15, 1781. 

Children : 

1. William, married Susan Thomas of Spottsylvania Co., 

Va. He was a Confederate soldier, was very badly 
wounded at the battle of Manassas, and was not 
heard from afterwards. 

2. David, a captain in the Confederate army; was killed 

at the battle of Manassas. 



34. JOSIAH GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(9) Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born June 6, 1768, in Albemarle Co., Va. ; died Jan. 7, 1856, 
in Richmond, Ky. ; married first, Nancy Thompson, a widow, 
formerly Nancy Mullins. She was born in Virginia, Feb. 4, 
1766, and was married to Mr. Gentry Dec. 13, 1789, in Vir- 
ginia. He married second, Winnie Music, and married third, 
Mary McCarty. He was a prominent and successful man in 
his county. He came over the Wilderness Route through Cum- 
berland Gap from Virginia to Kentucky in 1790, and located 
on a farm in Madison Co., 3 miles east of Richmond, now 
owned by his grandson, Josiah Gentry. He owned one thousand 
acres of good land and over 100 negroes. 

Children : 
1. William, born Jan. 1, 1792; married Mary Heme. He 
served with the Kentucky Volunteers in the War of 
1812, under General Harrison, and was present at 
the battle of the Thames and assisted in gaining the 
glorious victory over the British and Indians. He 



y6 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

lived for a while in Pike Co., Mo., and some of his 
descendants still live in that part of Missouri. 

Children : 
c. George; m. Sarah Woodward, in Frankfort, Ky., in 1852; 
she ran away from school at 16 years of age and mar- 
ried him. He was born in 1830, and was killed in a 
quarrel at Spencersburg, Ky, in 1865. His children 
were : Fannie, Laura, Etta, and Jennie, who married 
Charles E. Pritchett, of Frankfort, Pike Co., Mo. 

b. Josiah. 

c. Hutson. 

d. Green. 

e. William. 

f. Nancy. 

g. Permelia. 

2. Joel, born July 26, 1794; died April 11, 1798. 

3. Thomas J. (96), born July 18, 1797; died Feb. 5, 1844. 

4. Martin, born Dec. 3, 1805 ; died May 9, 1864. He was 

a man of wealth and influence and owned his father's 
old place east of Richmond, Ky. He left one son. 

a. Josiah Kansas Gentry, who lives at Richmond, Ky. 



35. BARTLETT GENTRY, of Boone Co., Mo. 

(9) Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., March 16, 1770. He married 
his cousin, Betsie Timberlake, and lived in Madison Co., Ky., 
until his children were born, when he moved to Boone Co., Mo., 
and settled on a farm north of Columbia, in what was called 
Black Foot. 

Children : 

1. Richard (97). 

2. Nicholas ; lived in Independence, Mo., and for a time 

near Westport, during the days of the Santa Fe Trail. 
He was engaged as a freighter in the Santa Fe trade 
for some years, and was also employed as a guide or 
pathfinder by Gen. Jno. C. Fremont in his famous 
overland expedition to California. He was probably 




Josiah Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS JJ 

the Nicholas Gentry who served in the War of 1812 
under General Harrison, as one of the Kentucky vol- 
unteers under the call of Gov. Shelby, issued July' 
31, 1813, and was present at the battle of the Thames. 

3. Humphrey. Lived in Boone Co., Mo. 

4. Bartlett. Lived in Boone Co., Mo. 

5. Beverly. Lived in Boone Co., Mo. 



36. JOHN GENTRY, of Madison, Ky. 

(9) Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., Sept. 24, 1778; married his 
cousin, Polly, a daughter of his uncle, Moses Gentry, and soon 
after moved to Kentucky and settled on a farm on Otter creek. 
There were born to them 15 children, five of whom died in in- 
fancy, and only five lived to be grown. 

Children : 

1. James (97I), born Nov. 5, 1802. 

2. Susan, married Green Parks. 

3. Oliver Perry, married Miss Parks. 

4. Nancy, born July 15, 1783. 

5. Polly, born April 2, 1781 ; married Wilson. 



37. MARTIN GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(9) Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Dec. 20, 1789; married Delphia Heme. After rearing 
six children, he and his wife separated, and he married again 
in Indiana and had two sons. His first wife and her children 
came to Pike Co., Mo. 

Children by first wife: 
1. Woodson H., born in Madison Co., Ky. ; came to Mis- 
souri ; married and lived on a farm near Rocheport, 
Mo. He had one child : a. Braxton C. Gentry, deceased, 
who inherited and lived on his father's old place for 
many years. He left several daughters. 



?8 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

2. Thompson, lived in Louisiana, Mo., for many years, 

and was engaged in the furniture business. He had 
a son named Curtis Gentry. 

3. William, lived on a farm in Cooper Co., Mo., and had 

a large family of children. 

4. Hayden (98). 

5. Curtis, lived near Sturgeon, Boone Co., Mo., where he 

left a family of children. 

6. Paulina, married Rev. Newman, a Methodist minister; 

they lived some time at Sedalia, Mo. She left two 
children : a. Mary N. Turner ; b. George S. Newman. 






FIFTH GENERATION 

38. JESSE GENTRY, of Shelby Co., Mo. 

(10) James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia; died Aug. 13, 1862, in Shelby Co., Mo. He 
married Nancy Paine of Jessamine Co., Ky. She died in 1839, 
at 32 years of age. He was a millwright by trade. 

Children : 

1. James M. (99), born Oct. 23, 1835, in Marion Co., 

Mo. 

2. Garland P., married Sallie Crump and settled on a farm 

in Monroe Co., Mo., and had children: a. William; 
b. Robert. 

3. Betsie. 



39. HARMAN GENTRY, of Ralls Co., Mo. 

(10) James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., about 1892. He was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, and after the war married Sallie Roberts 
and settled in Amherst Co., Va., where he remained until 1832. 
He came to Missouri with his family and settled on a farm 
in Ralls Co., where he died and where his son, James H. Gentry, 
lived until 1903, when he died. His children still own the farm. 
His name appears in the list of volunteers made by Maj. General 
Wilkerson, Dec. 29, 1813, War of 1812. — Virginia Historical 
Magazine, Vol. 2, p. 95. 

Children : 
1. James H., born March 22, 1817, in Amherst Co., Va. ; 
married Juliet Esther Martin, Sept. 25, 1849, in Ralls 
Co., Mo. Came with his father to Misouri in 1832; 
inherited his father's farm and lived on it until his 
death in 1903. He was a successful farmer, a fine 
citizen, honored and respected. 



80 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Children : 
a. Alice; b. Sallie; c. Mary; d. Dr. James H., Shelby- 
ville, Mo.; e. Wm. M., Palmyra, Mo.; f. Susan; 
g. Eugene R., Quincy, 111. ; h. Joseph E., Rensselaer, 
Mo. ; i. Walter Lee, Rensselaer, Mo. ; /. Annie. 

2. Annie E., married Wm. M. Vaughn and had : a. James 

H. ; b. Dr. Harrison C, Shelbina, Mo. ; c. Wm. H., 
St. Louis, Mo.; d. Ollie P., Strother, Mo.; e. Sallie 
A., teacher in St. Louis High School. 

3. Sarah, married Wm. Newland, a Missouri State Sena- 

tor, and had: Mrs. Sallie Lane, Palmyra, Mo., and 
Mrs. Dr. Bolton, Eureka Springs, Ark. 



40. MOSES GENTRY, of Marion Co., Mo. 

do) James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia, moved to Kentucky as a child, and finally 
as a young man settled in Marion Co., Mo., where he raised a 
family. Among his children were two sons : James and Harmon. 



41. JAMES GENTRY, of Arkansas. 

(10) James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia, settled first in Kentucky, then moved to 
Arkansas in 1841 with a family of four sons and two daugh- 
ters. He was a Kentucky volunteer in the War of 1812, and 
served on the Northern Lakes under Gen. Harrison ; was at 
Dudley's defeat, and barely escaped being massacred by the 
Indians. He and others were trying to carry off Col. Dudley, 
who was mortally wounded, but at the last moment, at Col. 
Dudley's command, they laid him down and saved their lives 
by jumping into the water and swimming to the boat, which 
had already started from the shore with the remnant of Col. 
Dudley's men. 

He was a soldier in the Florida War of 1837, and also in the 
Mexican War of 1846, with two of his sons, William and John. 
All three of them were engaged in the battle of Buena Vista, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 8l 

and his son John was killed. He returned home to his farm in 
Arkansas and died in 1856. He had nine children. 

Children : 

1. William H. (100). 

2. John F., born in 1822 ; killed in the Mexican War in 

1847. 

3. T. J. Gentry, born in 1828; died in California in 1855. 

4. George W., born in 1836; died in Silver City, New 

Mexico, in 1888. He had two sons living in Nebraska 
and one in Montana. 



42. GEORGE W. GENTRY, of Callaway Co., Mo. 

Cio) James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia, Nov. 21, 1805; died Aug., 1884, in Callaway 
Co., Mo. He settled first in Shelby Co., Mo., in 1828. 

Children : 
I. Wm. H., born Nov. 22, 1840; married Fannie Early, 
March 13, 1862. He was living in Kansas City in 
1906. They had: Samuel F., Richard A., Harvey C, 
John H., Amanda, Lula, Florence, Delia V. 

43. JAMES M. GENTRY, of Morgan Co., 111. 

(11) John P. IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Oct. 27, 1804, in Virginia, reared in Kentucky; settled 
in Morgan Co., 111. in 1834. He had: John M. and George W., 
who live near Ottawa, Kansas, and Thomas E., born in 1836, 
settled in Missouri in 1867, and lives near Drexel, Mo., whose 
sons are: George F., Robert R., Joseph M. and Ralph L. 



46. THOMAS J. GENTRY, of Estill Co., Ky. 

(11) John P. IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 17, 1823 ; married Malinda 
Hall and lived on a farm in Estill Co., Ky. 

Children : 

1. Amanda; married A. D. Burton of Holt, Mo. 

2. R. L. Gentry; born April 7, 1846. 



82 



THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



3. John Allen; born Feby. 5, 1848; died 1853. 

4. Sophia; born Dec. 15, 1852; married Theo. Wilson. 

5. Catherine ; born April 26, 1855 ; married Wm. Boin, 

Estill Co., Ky. 

6. Lou; born Mch. 26, 1858; married Joseph White. 

7. Izarah P. ; born July 14, 1861 ; married S. Hamilton. 



47. PLEASANT T. GENTRY, of Sturgeon, Mo. 

(12) Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Clark Co., Ky., July 21, 1813 ; he learned the mill- 
wright trade under his father and followed it until he was mar- 
ried to Mary Quisenbury, Dec. 25, 1839. He then purchased a 
saw mill and was in the lumber business for some time. He sold 
his mill and farmed near Winchester, Ky., for a time. He joined 
the Baptist Church when about 15 years old and soon after was 
ordained as a minister of that denomination, and became pastor 
of the church in which he was ordained, and continued in that 
relation until 1855, when he emigrated to Missouri. He settled 
on a farm in Audrain Co., Mo., near Sturgeon, where he died 
Nov. 21, 1897. He was a man well to do and highly esteemed. 



1 
2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 



Children : 
Orma ; married Vance. 

Lucy ; married Toalson ; lived in Clark Co., Mo. 
Andrew F. ; lived in Sturgeon, Mo. 
Benajah P.; lived in Kirksville, Mo. 
Colby C. ; lived in Saline Co., Mo. 
David T. (ioi); born Nov. 24, 1852. 
Enoch ; lived in Booneville, Mo. 
Flavel B. (102) ; lived in Los Angeles, Cal. 
Margaret. 
Paulina. 



48. CLAYBOURN GENTRY, of Clark Co., Mo. 

(12) Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Nov. 18, 1817; he remained on his 
father's farm until 1843, when he married Nancy Deathridge, and 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 83 

emigrated to Randolph Co., Mo. He returned to Kentucky in 
1844 and remained there until 1853 when he again settled in 
Cooper Co., Mo. Losing his first wife he married Mrs. Nancy 
Miller in 1866. He died Nov. 2, 1897. 

Children : 

1. Amos B. ; married Susan Woodson. 

2. Lucy ; married Henry Reavis. 



49. BENJAMIN T. GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(12) Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., May 1, 1820. Having received a good 
education, he taught school for some years. After the death of 
Mr. Karr, his brother-in-law, he administered on his estate and 
managed his sisters affairs for a number of years. He was an 
engineer and surveyor. He lived on his own farm and was greatly 
interested in stock raising, but general business affairs also 
claimed his attention. His reputation for integrity and honesty 
was of the highest order. He died a bachelor, May 8, 1885. 



50. NELSON BUSH GENTRY, Bunceton, Mo. 

(12) Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Dec. 2^, 1823. He grew up on his 
father's farm and, being the youngest son, took charge of his 
father's business at the age of 16. He remained with him for 
12 years until he married Frances T. Elkin, of Clark Co., Ky., 
on Dec. 5, 1854. He continued farming, stock raising, and trad- 
ing and driving stock to the different markets for about ten 
years, when he moved to Missouri, and settled at Bunceton in 
Cooper Co., in 1865. where he still lives. A man of sterling in- 
tegrity, a Christian gentleman, genial and hospitable. 

Children : 

1. Madison K. (103). 

2. Frances; born Feb. 7, 1859, in Kentucky; married John 



84 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Herndon Goodwin, formerly of Louisa Co., Va., who 
now lives in Kansas City, Mo. 

Children : 

a. Gentry; b. Aug., 1879. 

b. Wallace Wyan ; b. Mch. 16, 1881 ; m. Cara, daughter of 

Webster Withers, of Kansas City, Mo., in 1906. He is 
a graduate of the Yale Law School, of the class of 1902, 
and is a promising young lawyer and business man of 
Kansas City, Mo. Child : John Herndon Goodwin, b. 
April 7, 1907. 



51. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Decatur Co., Ind. 

(13), Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., June 17, 1800; married Nancy 
Moore in Aug., 1822, and in 1829 he left Virginia for Ohio, a 
trip which at this date was not an easy undertaking. There 
were no railroads and muddy roads and high waters often im- 
peded the progress of their covered wagons. In 1830 he settled 
in Hamilton Co., Ohio, and remained there for five years. In 
1835, being joined by his father and part of his family who 
were moving west from Virginia, he moved on to Decatur Co., 
Indiana, where they had bought land. Here he taught school in 
the winter and worked his farm in the summer. He was a use- 
ful man and lived a happy life. 



1 

2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 

11 



Children : 
Amanda ; born July 2, 1823. 
Sophronia ; born Dec. 2^, 1824. 
Lucy J. ; born Nov. 7, 1826. 
Mildred A. ; born July 23, 1828. 
Virginia; born Oct. 15, 1830. 
Sarah E. ; born Feb. 1, 1833. 
William C. ; born Aug. 6, 1835 \ died in 1837. 
Martha A.; born Dec. 31, 1837. 
Robert A. (104) ; born March 27, 1840. 
Mary E. ; born Jan. 16, 1843. 
John H. (105) ; born Sept. 9, 1846. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 85 

52. DAVID GENTRY, of Menard Co., 111. 

(13) Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born March 21, 1802 in Virginia. He married first, Jane Mc- 
Cune, July 6, 1825 ; second wife was Harriet Lilley. In 1858 
he moved from Augusta Co., Va., to Menard Co., Ills., where he 
died Sept. 20, 1881. 

Children, by first wife: 

1. James H. ; born July 4, 1826; went to California in 1849. 

2. Albert W. ; born May 11, 1828; went to California in 

1849, an d now nves m Bangor, Butler Co., California. 

3. William C. ; born Aug. 30, 1830; died in 1862. 

4. Jane Ann; born Sept. 7, 1832; died in 1848. 

5. Thomas F. ; born Sept. 20, 1834; single. 

6. Sarah E. ; born Nov. 22, 1836. 

7. Charles Claybourn; born Feb. 21, 1840; died April 26, 

1849. 

8. Davis S. ; lives in Menard Co., Ills. 

9. Robert E. ; born Aug. 21, 1853. 

Children, by second wife : 

10. Louis A.; born Oct. 9, 1856. 

11. Virginia; born Feb. 14, 1858; died April 16, 1883. 



53. DABNEY GENTRY, of White Co,. 111. 

(13) Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., April 13, 1804; married Elizabeth 
Drumkiller, a native of Germany. He moved to Ohio in 1835 
and from there to Indiana in 1838. He had a fine voice, and for 
some time was a music teacher. In 1858 he again moved to 
White Co., Ills. He died on his farm, May 13, 1872. 



Children: 
Eldridge; born Jan. 19, 1830; lived in Indiana. 
George C. (106) ; born Jan. 9, 1833, in Virginia. 
Sylvester L. (107) ; born April 16. 1839, in Indiana. 
Bezaleel; born March 6, 1841, in Indiana. 
Thomas Winston; born Sept. 13, 1843, in Indiana. 



86 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

6. Sidney Taylor; born April 16, 1846. He died of the 

measles at Memphis, Tenn., in May, 1863, while serv- 
ing as a soldier in the 87th Regiment of Illinois Vol- 
unteers. 

7. James Dabney; born Feb. 9, 1856. 



55. REUBEN ESTES GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(is) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., June 6, 1785 ; died in Pettis Co., 
Mo., Nov. 6, 1839. He was carried in his mother's arms, as an 
infant, from Virginia to Kentucky in 1786. The trip was made 
with a company of emigrants, on horseback, by way of the Wil- 
derness Route and the Cumberland Gap. He grew to young 
manhood among the heavy canebrakes and rich soil of Madison 
Co., Ky., and at 20 years of age married Elizabeth White, Nov. 
23, 1806, a daughter of Joel White, and a granddaughter of 
Henry White, both of whom came from Orange Co., Va., to 
Kentucky at a very early date. Henry White was born in Vir- 
ginia in 1734 and died in Kentucky in 1821. Elizabeth White 
was a sister of Col. John R. White of Howard Co., Mo. 

Reuben Gentry inherited the pioneer spirit of his father, and 
the next year after he was married began planning for his trip 
to and settlement in the new territory of Missouri. He made the 
trip on horseback, camping out at night with his young wife 
and infant son, Richard. They reached St. Louis in 1809, where 
he rented land and put in a crop of corn. The following spring 
he joined a party of emigrants, mostly from Kentucky, about to 
start for the Boone's Lick country, under the leadership of Col. 
Benjamin Cooper. They settled in " Cooper's Bottom," and built 
Fort Cooper on the Missouri River, a few miles west and north 
of Boonville, Mo. This was probably the first permanent set- 
tlement in Missouri, west of the present limits of Callaway 
County, all of which county was then called the " Boone's Lick " 
country. In 1812 Reuben Gentry and John Berry entered land 
and settled on Thrall's prairie, being the first settlers within the 
present limits of Boone Co., Mo. This was a few miles north- 
east of Rocheport, near where Head's Fort was afterwards built, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 87 

and was about 20 miles east of Cooper's Fort. Reuben Gentry- 
entered the splendid tract of land afterwards owned by the Hon. 
John W. Harris, and known as the " Model Farm " of Missouri. 
He did not remain long at this place; whether danger from 
Indians drove him closer to the main settlement, or the fact that 
the government surveyors spoiled his entry of land by the loca- 
tion of their lines, is not certain. In after years, he told of his 
surprise and disappointment when the government surveyors 
came right through the center of his land, crying " Stick, stuck," 
and located a section line so as to spoil his farm. In a letter to 
his brother, written in 1833, he advises against settling on un- 
surveyed government lands in Pettis Co., Mo. At any rate, he 
disposed of these lands and improved a farm in the Missouri 
River bottom near Fort Cooper, about nine miles west of 
Franklin. 

The War of 1812 was now in progress, and the British agents 
had not failed to arouse the Indians against the settlers, even in 
this far-off country. These daring pioneer settlers had to live 
in forts for about three years, and cultivate fields in common, 
while the plowman was guarded by comrades against the clan- 
destine attacks of the bloody savages. Frequently the Indians 
would raid them and everybody would run for the forts, where 
they often had to remain for weeks. 

Reuben Gentry soon had a nicely improved farm and a com- 
fortable home ; he had the first timothy meadow ever seen in that 
part of the country. His children were all born in Howard Co., 
except the oldest son, and were reared in real pioneer fashion. 

His first wife, mother of all his children, died and was buried 
in Howard Co. He sold his farm in Cooper's Bottom to a Mr. 
Monroe, a Methodist preacher. It now belongs to a Mr. Mance. 
He bought a farm in what is now Pettis Co., Mo., on which he 
settled about 1819. It has since become famous as the " Wood 
Dale" farm, on which the Hon. N. H. Gentry, his grandson, 
still lives. Remembering a widow, Sarah Brock, back in 
Cooper's Bottom, and needing a wife and mother for his chil- 
dren, he induced her to marry him, and it is said no children 
ever had a better step-mother. He and his wife Sarah made a 
trip — perhaps their wedding trip — to Kentucky on horseback, 
to visit his father's family. When they were about ready to start 



88 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

home, they were given a fine pair of turkeys, which they brought 
all the way to Missouri, on horseback. They arrived home late 
at night, unbound the turkeys, put them on the fence and re- 
tired. Their son Richard, who was up early the next morning, 
saw the turkeys, and supposing they were wild turkeys, quickly 
got his gun and killed the fine old gobbler. 

Reuben Gentry was a man of noble character and lovely spirit, 
generous, hospitable and kind, yet strong and courageous. His 
family life was beautiful and inspiring, and his children were 
well trained and cultivated, and all of them became prominent 
and successful. He established the first school in his section 
of the state, which was held at his house, having secured as 
teacher Mr. Milton Thompson, a thorough Greek, Latin and 
French scholar, educated at the Transylvania University in Ken- 
tucky and who had also been a student at West Point. Mr. Gen- 
try was a Justice of the Peace for his section for many years, and 
was known as Esquire Gentry. He is the ancestor of most of 
the Pettis Co. Gentrys; his sons Richard, Joel and Major Wil- 
liam lived and died there. 

Letter from Reuben Gentry to his Brother. 

Pettis County, Missouri, December the 21st, 1833. 
Dear Brother: 

I am glad to embrace the present opportunity of writing to you and 
to inform you that myself and family are all well at present and that we 
have enjoyed good health generally since we left the Missouri bot- 
tom. But we are very sorry indeed to hear that the cholora was in 
your country and we are anxious to hear from you and your family and 
also from the other Brothers and their families. Dear Brother I wish 
you to write to me on the receipt of this letter and inform me how 
you all are and also how the rest of our brothers are, and whether they 
are all still living. As I have not had one line from any of them, since 
they moved to your country, it is my desire that you read this letter to 
the rest of my brothers if you please as you all live in one neighborhood 
and let it answer for all of you as I am a bad hand to write and as bad 
to indite. Tell Rodes that all of the good land in my settlement is taken 
up and that the people are settling out south and west of us and form- 
ing considerable settlements on unsurveyed land, and says theirs is a 
better country than ours, but, sir, the best place is allways ahead. The 
Government is surveying that country at this time and it is no doubt 
in my mind but that their lines will cut their farms to pieces. And 
I want you to inform Christy that the people that heard him preach have 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 89 

not yet forgotten him and they express a great desire to hear him again. 
There is a Babtist Church constituted here and there has been a con- 
siderable stir of religion here lately. Dear Brother I have reason to be 
thankful that I am doing moderately well at present. As respects my 
domestick concerns, I think I have made 400 barrels of corn this year; 
corn is worth one dollar or $1 and 25 cents per bar. and pork is worth 
$2.50 per hundred weight. I have nothing to communicate of a public 
nature more than you are apprised, however, if you lack information 
on that subject I must refer to Jock Downing Major. Give my love 
to all of my brothers and to all inquiring friends and accept for yourself 
the love of your affectionate brother. 

Reuben E. Gentry 
Sarah Gentry. 
Joshua Gentry 
near Palmyra 

Marion County, Mo. 
N. B. Brother when you write to me let me know where James 
is and how he is doing. 

Children : 

1. Richard (108), born Sept. 9, 1807; died Jan. 17, 1865. 

2. Joel White (109), born March 15, 1815 ; died Oct. 4, 

1851, 
4. Reuben (ho), born Sept. 16, 1816. 

4. William (hi), born April 14, 18 18. 

5. Jane Harris, born Feb. 3, 1813; died April 13, 1880; 

married May 1, 1827, at the tender age of 14 years, 
David Ramey, the second son of Judge James Ramey 
of Pettis Co., Mo., at the old Gentry home known as 
" Wood Dale." Her mother died when she was only 
six years old, and she was taken to raise by her aunt, 
Nancy Ann, the wife of Col. Richard Gentry, who 
then lived in Old Franklin, where she was sent to 
school. She endured many hardships and privations 
and had many thrilling experiences and adventures, 
and with lack of all opportunity of schools and culture 
consequent upon her pioneer life, she developed into a 
grand and good woman, strong and intellectual, yet 
tender, loving and refined. She was worthy to be the 
sister of her noted brothers, and the daughter of that 
intrepid pioneer, her father. Her husband was killed 
during the Civil War, and she survived him about 16 



90 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

years. She was the mother of 10 children, had 33 
grandchildren, and 65 great-grandchildren. 

Her niece, Mrs. Theo. Shelton, writes of her thus : " She was tall 
and queenly, of a most perfect complexion and beautiful blue eyes, and 
had a wealth of golden brown wavy hair; she was a great reader, espe- 
cially found of history, and a most interesting talker, She often visited 
my father's house for a month at a time, and we were always happy 
when we heard Aunt Jane was coming. She loved young people, and often 
when we would get home from parties, she would come into our room at 
midnight and listen to us tell the incidents of the entertainment. It was 
so beautiful to see her with her brothers, there was such respect, affection, 
and tender love between them all; it was sweet to hear her say, brother 
William, and in return to hear my father's voice in tenderest tones say 
sister Jane." 



" When Aunt Jane Ramey's children were very small she lived at 
the head of Flat Creek in Pettis Co., Mo. ; the wolves were very bold and 
numerous at that early date, and once when the children were out at 
play, they came crying, 'a wolf has Mollie, and is carrying her off'; 
her father started in pursuit with his gun, but was afraid to shoot, for 
fear of injuring the child. He succeeded in frightening the wolf and 
she dropped the child, which was unhurt, and ran away." 



In 183 1 Aunt Jane Ramey was at home alone away out in the coun- 
try, with two small children, and saw the great " Falling of the stars " 
of that year, and was greatly frightened ; her husband had gone to mill 
some distance away; the grinding was done by a wind mill with sails; 
it would only grind when the wind blew, and that frequently occurred 
only at night, which happened on this occasion. 

Children : 

a. Elizabeth; b. Nov. 15, 1823; m. John H. Priestly, in 1844, 

and had : Isabel J. ; m. David Mathews, Ardmore, Ok. ; 
Sarah E. ; b. Dec. 1844, and Mary P.; b. 1849; m. 1881, 
Mr. Crosly, of Oregon. 

b. Sarah L. ; b. Feb. 27, 1821 ; m. 1st. Oren Owens; 2nd John 

Elliott; they had: 

(1) Jane; m. James Harkless, Green Ridge, Mo. 

(2) Elizabeth; b. 1851 ; m. Green Bennett. 

(3) James R. Elliott; m. Ruth Mather. 

(4) Daniel Elliott. 

(5) Jael Elliott; m. Absolom Johnston. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 91 

(6) John Elliott. 

(7) Gertrude; m. Ed. Atwood. 

(8) Sallie A.; m. Wm. Rieck. 

c. Mortillus E. ; b. Aug. 15, 1833; m. Jane Means, in 1852; 

d. in 1856; had: Mortillus, Jr.; b. 1856; m. Alice 
Chatham. 

d. Reuben G. ; b. Mch. 18, 1835 ; m. Elizabeth Elliott, Feb. 22, 

1854, and had: 

(1) Elizabeth; m. Thomas Wilson. 

(2) Jane; m. Charles Barrick. 

e. Mary; b. Nov. 4, 1838; m. Geo. Mather, May 8, 1870, a 

descendant of Rev. Richard Mather of Salem, Mass., 
and had : 

(1) Grace. 

(2) Guy. 

(3) Ralph. 

f. Richard G. ; b. July 20, 1840; m. Agnes Penny, and lives 

in Washington ; they had : 

(1) Thomas. 

(2) Ida. 

(3) Josephine. 

(4) Eddie. 

g. Alzira Jane; b. Feb. 26, 1843; m. Thomas J. Walton. 

h. Ann Eliza; b. Aug. 28, 1844; m. 1869, John M. Durrell, 
and had: 

(1) Anna Bell; b. Dec. 1873; m. Chas. Solomon, of 

Bartlesville, Ok. 

(2) Ruby M. ; b. May 16, 1879 ; m. Scott Carpenter, 

1894. 

(3) John R.; b. Mch 8, 1881. 



56. DAVID GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Mo. 

(is) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky Feb. n, 1787; married Susan Maupin, a 
daughter of Daniel Maupin and Patsie Gentry, his wife (she was 
a daughter of old Martin Gentry of Kentucky). He moved 
from Kentucky to Missouri and lived for some years between 
Columbia and Rocheport in Boone Co. He removed to Monroe 
Co., Mo., about 1835, and settled a farm near Middle Grove. 
He died there about 1836, and his wife died a few years later. 
His children sold the farm of about 400 acres to a Mr. Owenby. 



92 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

David Gentry served in the War of 1812 under Gen. Harrison on 
the Northern Lakes. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth, born Oct. 15, 1805; married Michie Maupin 

of Madison Co., Ky. He died in Piatt Co., Mo., Aug. 
18, 1876. She died Nov. 23, 1851. 

Children : 

a. David B., d. leaving four children. 

b. Harrison, m. Elizabeth Smith. 

Children : 

(1) William. 

(2) James of Edgerton, Mo. 

(3) Verona. 

c. Richard T., m. Catherine Meadows of Camden Point, Mo. 

Children : 

(1) Mary, m. Frank Owens, Maryville, Mo. 

(2) Alice, m. John Wilson, Dearborn, Mo. 

(3) Emma, m. Sterling Duncan, Dearborn, Mo. 

(4) Thomas R., m. Lizzie Davidson. 

(5) Margaret, m. Burt Owens, Camden Point, Mo. 

(6) Harrison. 

d. Elizabeth, m. Joseph Cox and had 8 children, Dearborn, Mo. 

e. Mary Frances, m. first, Samuel Hamilton; second, Clay 

Phillips, Argentine, Kansas. 

f. Patrick, m. first, Lucy Bradley; m. again and lives in 

Texas. 

g. Michie, m. Susan Stone, Colorado Springs, Colo. 

2. Jane, married, first, William Stephenson, who was killed 

by lightning, and afterwards married a Mr. Ray. 

3. Richard T., born Dec. 3, 1809, and died March 28, 

1830; unmarried. 

4. Nancy Harris, born Nov. 13, 1812; died Dec. 20, 1868, 

in Piatt Co., Mo. She married William Means of 
Dearborn, Mo., April 1, 1830, in Boone Co., Mo. He 
was born Jan. 18, 1809, in Christian Co., Ky., and 
came to Howard Co., Mo., in 1818. 

Children : 
a. James Richard Means, b. Jan. 11, 1831 ; m. Verlinda Gil- 
lam, Oct. 21, 1852, Pendleton, Ore. He married second 
a Miss Yokum. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 93 

Children : 
(i) Wm. Robert, b. July 19, 1853. 

(2) Sarah Frances. 

(3) Thomas J. Means, who lives with his father in 

Pendleton, Oregon. 

b. Charles Granderson, b. June 3, 1833; m. Melissa Jane 

Bivens, Nov. 5, 1854, and engaged in the live stock com- 
mission business. 

Children : 

(1) William Walker, of Kansas City, Mo. 

(2) Charles H., of Kansas City, Mo. 

(3) Melissa, m. Jacob C. Dold of Kansas City, Mo. 

(4) Viola, m. Garrett Ellison of Kansas City, Mo. 

(5) Michie, Kansas City, Mo. 

(6) Barnie J., Kansas City, Mo. 

c. Susan Matilda, b. June 8, 1836 ; m. David McMahan. April 

20, 1856. 

Children : 

(1) Bell, m. Orin Weakley. 

(2) James, m. Fannie Weakley. 

(3) Cora. 

(4) Myrtle. 

(5) Charles G., of Gower, Mo. 

(6) Thomas G. 

d. Thomas J., b. Jan. 6, 1841 ; m. Susan A. Vaughn. 

Children: 

(1) Alvertie, b. Oct. 20, 1871. 

(2) Clay Farris, b. July 3, 1873; m. Lulu Hausman, 

Jan. 7, 1892. 

(3) Thomas Jefferson, Jr., b. Aug. 27, 1875. 

(4) Charles C, b. Dec. 29, 1876. 

(5) Nancy Eliza, b. Nov. 28, 1879. All of these live 

in Dearborn, Mo. 

e. Elizabeth G, b. Jan. 26, 1843 ; m. Wm. Farris, Sept. 5, 

1861. She died in 1895. They had: Major Thomas 
Farris, of Winchester, Kan. 
/. Martha Jane, b. March 4, 1846; m. James Coleman. 

Children : 

(1) Maud. 

(2) Leota. 

(3) Mitchell. 

(4) Viola Bates. 

(5) James 



94 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

5. Martha, married Samuel Burris; he died and she mar- 

ried John Tuck. 

Children : 

a. Samuel Burris. 

b. Wallace Tuck. 

c. James K. Polk Tuck. 

d. Joseph Tuck. 

e. America Tuck, m. Snyder. 
/. Thomas Tuck, Frazier, Mo. 

6. James, went to California in 1849. 

7. Sidney M. (112). 

8. Marcus Lafayette, lived in Buchannan Co., Mo. 

9. Benjamin B. (113). 



57. GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY, of Columbia, Mo. 

(is) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 25, 1788; died Dec. 25, 1837; 
married Ann Hawkins, daughter of Nicholas Hawkins of Madi- 
son Co., Feb. 13, 1810. He was a son of Richard Gentry and 
Jane Harris, who came from Virginia to Kentucky in 1786. 
By nature and training he was a soldier, fond of adventure and 
daring; he inherited the pioneer spirit, was a born hunter, and 
loved to follow the Indian trail. He was generous, hospitable, 
popular, patriotic and brave. He was appointed a lieutenant in 
the Kentucky militia in 1808, and in 181 1 he was made a captain, 
and Sept. 1, 1813, Governor Isaac Shelby appointed him a regi- 
mental ensign. He served as such in the War of 1812, on the 
Northern Lakes with General Harrison, in the Eleventh regiment 
under Colonel Williams, and took part in the battle of the 
" Thames," where the great victory was won, and the Kentucky 
Volunteers avenged the massacre of the " River Raisin." 

In 1816, desirous of new adventure and new opportunity, he 
collected his personal property, consisting of some live stock and 
a few negro slaves, and started, with his family of wife and 
four children, for the new Territory of Missouri. He spent one 
year in St. Louis Co., and then pressed forward to the new 
center of population and influence being formed at Franklin, 
on the western frontier, in the Boone's Lick country. Here 
he became acquainted with a number of young men who were 




General Richard Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 95 

to become prominent throughout the state and the great west. 
He was one of the speakers at the banquet given to the officers 
of the Independence, the first steamboat to ascend the Missouri 
River, which arrived at Franklin May 28, 1819. 

In 1820 he was one of the incorporators of the town of Co- 
lumbia, and built the first house and moved his family there, and 
devoted himself towards building up the town. 

He was always deeply interested in public affairs, and espe- 
cially in the military organizations of the state. 

In 1 82 1 he was appointed captain by the governor, and in 
1822 a colonel in the State Militia. About this time he and his 
brother James became interested in the lead mines of Galena, 
111., and his brother remained there until he died. 

In 1826 he was elected State Senator from Boone and ad- 
joining counties, and served four years. His great friendship 
for Thomas H. Benton, United States Senator from Missouri, no 
doubt influenced him to become a Democrat and leave the old 
Whig party of his father. He took active part in every political 
campaign, was a good political speaker, and often boasted that he 
was brought up in true democratic fashion ; that he was born in 
a Kentucky cane-brake, and rocked in a sugar-trough for a 
cradle. In 1830 President Jackson appointed him Postmaster at 
Columbia, which office he held until his death in 1837, when his 
widow was appointed in his stead and held the office for about 
30 years. 

He became interested in the thrilling stories and promising 
opportunities of the Santa Fe trail, and made two or more suc- 
cessful trips with merchandise from Missouri to Santa Fe. His 
first trip was made in 1826 and the second in 1829. Sen- 
ator Benton was advocating in the Senate the importance of the 
Mexican trade, and urging appropriations for improving the 
Santa Fe trail. 

In 1832 the Sax and Fox Indians, under Chief Black Hawk, 
threatened a raid in North Missouri. Col. Gentry was given a 
commission as Major General and put in command of all the 
Missouri troops. He soon organized his forces and marched 
part of them to North Missouri in time to protect the citizens 
from the savages. 

In 1837 President Van Buren asked Senator Benton if Mis- 



g6 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

sourians could be induced to go so far from home as Florida to 
assist in chastizing the Seminoles. He replied : " The Missou- 
rians will go wherever their services are needed." He at once 
secured a commission for General Gentry as Colonel of Volun- 
teers, with orders from the Secretary of War for raising a regi- 
ment of Missouri volunteers. The following letter from Col. 
Thomas H. Benton, Senator from Missouri in Washington, will 
be interesting in this connection: 

Senate Chamber, Sep. 8th, 1837. 
Dear Sir— 

I have the gratification to write to you, simultaneously with the issue 
of orders from the War Department, for the march of 600 of your vol- 
unteers to Florida. 

This is an event which you have ardently desired, and I have no doubt 
but that the brave spirits, who have volunteered with you, will rejoice 
to have an opportunity to show their courage, devotion and patriotism. 
I feel proud for Missouri, that her gallant sons are called to take a part 
in this war, and am fully assured that there will be no disappointment, 
neither in the promptness of the march nor in bravery of conduct, after 
you reach the field of action. 

I make great calculations upon the 600 that will go with you, and 
great will be my pride to see them turn out with alacrity and signalize 
themselves by exploits which will give me an opportunity to celebrate 
their praises on this floor. 

Your old friend, 

Thomas H. Benton. 
To General Richard Gentry, 
Col. of Volunteers, 
Columbia, Mo. 

General Gentry marched out of Columbia, Mo., Oct. 15, 1837, 
with 600 men, en route to Florida. Senator Benton came from 
Washington and met the troops in St. Louis and made them a 
stirring speech. General Gentry lost no time in reaching Flor- 
ida and reporting to Colonel Taylor. 

After five or six weeks' march into the interior, through a 
dense tropical forest without roads, the Indians were found 
assembled for battle near the north end of Okeechobee Lake, 
and on Christmas day, 1837, was fought the decisive battle of 
" Okeechobee Lake." The Missourians brought on the fight in 
gallant style, led by their brave commander ; they waded through 
a swamp, half a mile in width, almost to their armpits in water, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS gj 

to attack and drive a concealed enemy from a dense hammock 
on the opposite shore. General Gentry was first to reach solid 
ground, being in front of his men, and at the first volley from 
the ambushed Indians he received a mortal wound, being shot 
through the body; but he continued to stand on his feet for 
some time urging his troops forward to the attack. 

Colonel Taylor, in his report of the battle, says : " Colonel 
Gentry died in a few hours after the battle, much regretted by 
the army, and will be doubtless by all who knew him, as his 
state did not contain a braver man or a better citizen.' 

He was cut down in the prime of life, full of the vigor and 
spirit of a well-matured manhood. Had he lived to return from 
the war, he would doubtless have taken a very prominent place in 
the public affairs of the country. 

The United States Government after a few years caused the 
remains of General Gentry to be brought from Florida to Mis- 
souri and reinterred in the beautiful National Cemetery at Jef- 
ferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Mo., and placed a monument 
over his grave, which is still standing in good repair. 

On the 12th day of February, 1841, the Missouri Legislature 
named the new county of Gentry, in honor of General Richard 
Gentry. 

The first intelligence of the death of General Gentry received 
in Missouri was contained in the following letters to his widow 
from Senator Benton in Washington : 

Washington City, Jan. 12, 1838. 
Mrs. Richard Gentry, 

Columbia, Mo. 
Dear Madam: 

The melancholy intelligence from Florida, though not yet confirmed 
by the arrival of the official reports, seems too well substantiated to 
admit of a doubt that your brave and patriotic husband has nobly fallen 
in the cause of his country. Twenty years of friendship between us en- 
ables me to appreciate his loss to his family, and makes me feel how 
much the country is bound to endeavor to alleviate the calamity of that 
loss. With that in view, I have already applied to the President and 
Postmaster General to have you appointed to keep the post office at 
Columbia, and think it probable that the application will be granted. 

President Van Buren deeply regrets the death of your husband, and 
feels that everything is due to his family which can lawfully and con- 
sistently be done. A pension for five years will be granted to you at 



98 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

the rate I think of about $450.00 or $500.00 a year. I shall also be glad 
to assist in doing anything for your children, and must request a state- 
ment of the names and ages of your sons, that I may see whether any 
of them can be educated at the Military Academy or placed in the Navy. 
With my assurance that you and your children can rely on my friend- 
ship at all times, and that I shall lose no opportunity to promote your 
and their welfare, I remain, dear madam, 

Yours truly, 

Thomas H. Benton. 



Washington City, Jan. 16, 1838. 
Mrs. Richard Gentry, 

Columbia, Mo. 
Dear Madam: 

I wrote you a few days ago to give you the earliest intelligence of 
the melancholy news from Florida, and I now write again, to give you 
some further particulars, just learned by letters from friends there. 
Your husband was shot through while bravely leading on his men, and 
the same bullet which passed through him also struck and wounded your 
son. General Gentry survived his wound about thirty hours, having 
expired at eleven o'clock in the night after the action. Your son on the 
3rd of January was to be brought into Ft. Brooks, where Major Brant 
was, and who writes to me that he will give him every possible care 
and attention. These are all the particulars which I have yet received, 
and lose no time in communicating them to you, and renew my offers 
of friendship to you and yours. 

Your obedient servant, 

Thomas H. Benton. 

Some old letters of General Richard Gentry to his wife, while 
on his campaign against the Seminoles: 

New Orleans, Jackson Barracks, Nov. 2d, 1837. 
Mrs. Ann Gentry. 
Dear Madam: 

We arrived here in the 30th ultimo, and will leave here this evening 
at 4 o'clock. The city of Orleans has become healthy, and the prospect 
for our health is good. I am pleased with the service which I think 
will be certainly brought to a close early in this campaign. Accounts 
have just reached here of the capture of Powell, together with eight of 
his warriors, which goes to strengthen the opinion I formerly entertained. 

General Smith, with a regiment of Louisiana Volunteers, leaves this 
place for Florida this morning; the General is a fine looking fellow, and 
enjoys a fine reputation as a soldier and a gentleman. I had the pleasure 
of dining with him on yesterday in the city. 

The Missouri regiment of Volunteers attracts the attention and notice 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 99 

of all the officers of the army, wherever we go ; indeed, when brought 
together it forms a corps that any officer in the U. S. would be proud 
to command, and I pledge myself to my friends and country that if ever 
they have an opportunity of engaging with the enemy, that I will give a 
good account of them. 

When you hear from me again it will be from Tampa Bay. 

R. Gentry. 



Tampa Bay, Florida, 26th Nov., 1837. 
Dear Madam: 

I have just returned from Peace Creek, a distance of 40 miles in the 
interior, where I had been ordered by the commanding officer, with a 
large train of wagons, nearly one hundred, loaded with provisions and 
forage for the army. The post just established at Peace Creek is now 
well supplied with provisions, and the Army leaves here to-morrow 
morning, in pursuit of the Seminoles. We go by the post recently es- 
tablished at Peace Creek, then south to Kissimmee River, where we 
expect to find the enemy; if we should be disappointed in finding him 
at that point, we will establish a depot and charge it with provisions, 
and then proceed in further search of the enemy. The prevailing opinion 
here among the officers is, that there will not be much fighting, but that 
it will be a difficult matter to compel the Indians to emigrate. 

We have met with a serious accident in the company of Captain Ellis ; 
a man by the name of John Davis was accidentally shot by my son, R. H. 
Gentry, with a pistol, and died in a few hours. Harrison was assisting 
Captain John Ellis to fix his holsters and pistols on his saddle ; in shov- 
ing one of the pistols in the holster it became cocked; one of the men 
said the pistol is loaded, he immediately pointed it to the ground and 
uncocked it, and as he raised the pistol to place it in the holster, it went 
off at half cocked and produced the fatal deed. On examination, the 
pistol was found to be in a condition that made it very unsafe. In 
twenty trials, more than half the time the pistol went off at half cocked 
in the same manner. It was just drawn by Captain Ellis and of course 
was untried. There were twenty men present, all of whom cleared Har- 
rison of all blame. 

We have lost almost all our horses on their passage from Orleans to 
this place. A storm arose the day after we left the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi River and lasted five days, during which time a great number of 
horses were smothered to death, being in the hold of the vessel. The 
sea was running over the decks at such a rate that they were compelled 
to shut down the hatches to prevent the ship from filling with water. 
This ship was 21 days on voyage to Tampa. 180 horses have not been 
heard from ; the vessels on which they were shipped have not as yet ar- 
rived. The horses, it is believed, cannot be alive at this late date. 

Thomas Bryant got in yesterday on one of the vessels that had been 
out with the horses 21 days, and on which they were compelled to throw 



100 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

overboard 50 horses. He is in fine health, as well as Harrison and 
myself. 

Some dissatisfaction prevails in the regiment in consequence of the loss 
of our horses, the men being compelled to walk or return home. The 
companies commanded by Captains Russell, Grant, Ellis and Card have 
determined to serve out the campaign ; the companies composing the 
first battalion have not as yet determined what course they will take. 
My opinion is, however, that they will remain with me. The decision 
must be made this day, as we march to-morrow. 

I must beg of you, my dear wife, to be patient in all things, exercising 
your usual philosophy in everything. 

Richard Gentry. 
To Mrs. Ann Gentry. 

For a fuller story of the life of General Gentry, see in Part 
IV, an address delivered at Crab Orchard, Ky., at the Gen- 
try reunion in 1898, on the " Life of General Richard Gentry." 
by Thomas Benton Gentry, his son. 

Dr. Wm. H. Duncan's Dream. 

Dr. W. T. Lenoir writes of a dream which Dr. Wm. H. Duncan had 
of the tragic death of Col. Richard Gentry. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, March 13, 1906. 

The Columbia (Missouri) Herald comes to our home and hearts a 
bundle of sunshine, but true to life, it is not always entirely rose-colored. 
For ever and anon there are entwined death shadows that proclaim the 
anguish of stricken hearts. Almost all that noble band of statesmen and 
patriots, immortals, who laid so deeply and strongly the foundations 
from which we are so wisely building have passed away. Our distin- 
guished friend, Gen. Odon Guitar, and Col. William F. Switzler, the nes- 
tor of Missouri Journalism, alone remain. The others are gone, but their 
imperishable deeds are monuments that eloquently proclaim their virtues 
and perpetuate their memories. 

Your last paper tells of the death of Thomas Benton Gentry. After a 
long and prosperous life, active participation in works for the betterment 
of society, he has laid down his armor, and sleeps with his fathers. 
" Requiescat in pace." 

I am reminded of a true, unwritten history, which I will relate. 

Dr. William H. Duncan and Col. Richard Gentry, the father of Thomas 
Benton Gentry, were co-laborers and lifelong personal and political 
friends, Dr. Duncan's wife, Susan Harris, and Col. Gentry being first 
cousins. In 1837, there was a call for troops in the Seminole Indian War 
in Florida. Col. Gentry at once raised a regiment of patriotic volunteers. 
One bright morning they raised camp in Columbia and under the Stars 
and Stripes and martial music began the march for Jefferson Barracks. 
Dr. Duncan mounted his horse and rode beside Col. Gentry to " classic 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS IOI 

Hinkson." While their horses drank these old friends had their last 
hand-shake. Dr. Duncan said : " Good-by, Dick. I fear this will be our 
last interview; I know you are a brave man, but there is also an element 
of rashness in you. If you are ever in battle you will lead the charge 
and will be killed." Prophetic words, for at the battle of Okeechobee, 
his first engagement, Col. Gentry did lead the charge and was shot through 
the body, and died that day. 

The night after the battle Dr. Duncan dreamed that Col. Richard 
Gentry led the charge and was shot an inch below the bowel and a little 
to the right of the median line of the body, the ball passing out the 
back, and that he died that day. 

The dream was so realistic, so pathetic, it haunted the doctor for days, 
and he told it to their mutual friends, John Guitar, Moss Prewitt, Oliver 
Parker, Judge Woodson, Joseph Howard, Jonathan Kirkbride, and others. 
The dream was village talk. 

The time long antedated railroads, telegraph, wireless telegraphy and 
telephones, and it took weeks to get word from Florida. But in course 
of time the reports of the battle reached Columbia, and proved that there 
is sometimes something true in dreams. 

Had Dr. Duncan witnessed the fatal charge, had he made autopsy of 
Col. Gentry's body, he could have written only the facts portrayed in his 
dream. 

Let the psychologist unravel the mystery if he can. Long may the 
Herald flourish. 

As ever faithfully, 

W. T. Lenoir. 

Dr. Wm. H. Duncan's wife, Su<:an Harris, was a daughter of 
John Harris, son of Christopher Harris of Albemarle Co., Va., 
and General Richard Gentry was a son of Jane Harris, daughter 
of Christopher Harris of Albemarle. 



Claiborne Webb of Jackson Co., Mo., a survivor of the Sem- 
inole War, was interviewed by the Kansas City Star June 15, 
1902. 

Mr. Webb was one of fifty young men who enlisted in 1837 
in Captain James Childs' company of Independence, Mo., for the 
Florida Seminole War. He was then 22 years old, and is now 
87. He was in the service but six months and was wounded in 
the decisive battle at Okeechobee Lake. The government had 
been warring with these Indians for several years, with very 
poor success, and on December 28, 1836, a detachment of 112 
men under Major Dade was surrounded and all but three pri- 



102 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

vates were killed. This wholesale slaughter aroused the United 
States to renewed efforts to put an end to the Indian war in the 
South. 

During the summer of 1837 a command of about 500 men was 
given to Colonel Zachary Taylor, and he was sent to Florida 
against these Indians. Mr. Webb states that most of the volun- 
teers in that campaign were from Missouri, and they were good 
pistol and rifle shots. 

They were carried down the Mississippi River from St. Louis 
in a steamer to New Orleans, and there they took sailing vessels 
to Tampa. 

The aged veteran describes the battle near Okeechobee Lake 
as follows : " We followed the Seminoles for several months and 
overtook them in southern Florida. We captured an Indian 
early in the morning of Christmas day, 1837; he was well armed, 
with a pouch full of powder and a hundred balls. He said the 
other Indians were as well armed as he, and tried every way to 
scare off Colonel Taylor from an attack. The Indians outnum- 
bered the troops very largely, and made a stubborn fight. We 
found the Indians upon the opposite side of a marsh, not far 
from Okeechobee Lake. 

On the border of this marsh we were ordered to dismount 
and cross ; every eighth man was left to hold horses. We waded 
into this marsh, and were for several hours in water that struck 
us between the waist and shoulder. We were fired upon by the 
Indians, who were concealed in the brush upon the opposite 
bank, when our heads and shoulders were showing above the 
water. Many of us lifted our weapons and ammunition as high 
as possible, in our hands, and sometimes stuck our heads beneath 
the water to prevent being a good target for an Indian bullet. 
When we reached the water's edge the Indians were there to 
meet us. We turned loose on them with our rifles and then with 
our pistols, which proved very effective. The battle waged for 
several hours, but our better discipline, courage and firearms 
finally put them to rout." 

" The old-time pistols, used in the 30's, were responsible for our 
victory," said Mr. Webb. " The Indians were adamant ; they 
wouldn't run, but stood their ground and fought with savage 
vigor. Each of us had two pistols, with six loads apiece, and I 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 103 

tell you we pumped lead into the Indians fast after we got within 
short range of them." 

In this battle fell the brave Lieutenant Colonel Alexander R. 
Thompson of the 6th U. S. Infantry, and Colonel Dick Gentry 
of Columbia, Mo., who commanded the Missouri troops. Cap- 
tain Childs was painfully wounded. 

Ann Hawkins Gentry, wife of General Richard Gentry, was 
born January 21, 1791, in Madison County, Ky., and died Janu- 
ary 18, 1870, in Columbia, Mo. She was appointed " Post- 
master " at Columbia, Mo., at the instance of Senator Benton, 
after the death of her husband, Feb. 20, 1838, and her commis- 
sion was dated March 13, 1838. She held this position contin- 
uously for thirty years, and resigned it in 1868. Though gen- 
erally supposed to have been the first woman postmaster, records 
show that Susanna Wyley was appointed at Georgetown, D. C, 
December 17, 1812. She was a woman of strong character and 
of a dignified and distinguished appearance and bearing. She 
was very patriotic. Some ladies were at one time expressing 
sympathy for her on account of being a soldier's wife, and she 
replied " that she would rather be a brave man's widow than a 
coward's wife." 

She was a daughter of Nicholas Hawkins and Ann Robinson, 
his wife, who came from Spottsylvania Co., Va., to Madison 
Co., Ky., in 1785. It is almost certain that this branch of the 
Hawkins family of Virginia is descended from William Hawkins 
of England, the famous sea captain, who died in 1554, and who 
was the father of Sir John Hawkins, the Admiral, and William 
Hawkins, his brother. 

She was also a granddaughter of William Robinson and Sarah 
Smith, his wife, daughter of Peyton Smith of Spottsylvania Co., 
Va., and Ann, his wife. After the death of Peyton Smith in 
1782, Ann Smith came to Kentucky and lived with her daughter, 
Sarah Robinson. She was a very remarkable woman, wealthy 
and of great business capacity, and lived to be no years of age. 
Peyton Smith was doubtless a descendant of the noted family of 
Peytons of Virginia. Sir Robert Peyton of Isleham, England, 
was the ancestor of the Baronets of Isleham and of all the Vir- 
ginians of the name — Peyton.* 

* Va. His. Mag., Vol. 12, p. 441. 



104 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Sir Thomas Smith, Treasurer of the Virginia Colony in 1620, 
a most remarkable man, died in England Sept. 4, 1625. Sev- 
eral of his brothers settled in Virginia at a very early date. 
His son, Sir John Smith, left a son, Robert Smith, who married 
July 8, 1625, Lady Dorothy Sydney, " the poet Waller's Sacha- 
risa," daughter of Robert, second Earl of Leicester. It may be 
that the fame of this fair lady is responsible for the number of 
Dorothys among the Smiths, Robinsons, Hawkins, Gentrys and 
other families, to the present time. 

Major Lawrence Smith, Surveyor of Gloucester and York 
Counties in Virginia in 1686, and who fought against Nathaniel 
Bacon in 1676, was the head of a large family of Smiths, who 
were very wealthy and prominent. The Peytons and Smiths were 
among the most prominent of the early English families who set- 
tled in Virginia. Peyton Smith was no doubt a descendant of 
Maj. Lawrence Smith. 

Children : 
1. Analyza, born Dec. 17, 1810, in Madison Co., Ky. ; died 
Jan. 26, 1789, in Vernon Co., Mo. Came to Missouri 
with her parents in 1816. She was a woman of rare 
talent and very considerable culture, a fine English 
scholar, fond of literature and history. She taught 
school in the counties of Boone, Pettis, Grundy and 
Andrew. She was a strong, lovable Christian char- 
acter; to be in her company was not only charming 
but educating and inspiring. She possessed the art 
of winning the love and admiration of her pupils, so 
that in after life they always spoke of her with the 
greatest affection and highest esteem. She married 
first, John H. Bryan of Boone Co., Mo., who died in 
1849, an d second, Robert Elliott of Andrew Co., Mo. 
She had one son. 

Child: 
a. Richard G. Bryan, b. May 31, 1838. He served as a Con- 
federate soldier throughout the Civil War, having left 
a young wife at home who died before he returned, 
leaving a son, John, born the first year of the war. He 
married the second and third time, and had children by 
each wife. He lived for many years in Vernon Co., 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS IO5 

Mo. ; was for several years County Treasurer of that 
county. He has for a few years past been living in 
Bronson, Kansas. 

An Old Relic. 
Letter of Analyza Bryan, daughter of General Richard Gen- 
try, written in 1837, to her brother, Richard Harrison Gentry, 
just starting in business for himself at Fayetteyille, Ark. The 
father and son went to the Florida war, and the father was 
killed and his son Harrison was wounded on Christmas day that 
same year: 

R. Harrison Gentry, Esq., Oakland, July 9, 1837. 

Fayetteville, Ark. : 
Dear Brother — We all feel a great deal of solicitude about you, not 
having heard from you since you left Orleans. Hope kindly whispers to 
me that you are doing well. I beg of you to write to me immediately 
on the receipt of this and tell me how you speed in business. You have 
bright prospects before you — you have youth, health and industry. What 
more had the great Franklin when he first entered the streets of Phila- 
delphia, save one Dutch dollar in his pockets, which was all he could call 
his own in the wide world? And yet by industry, perseverance and econ- 
omy, what did he not accomplish? He became rich, wise and great. I 
have not words to express how much interest I feel for my brothers. I 
know it depends on themselves whether they be an honor and a blessing 
to their parents or a reproach and a shame. My bosom swells with 
grateful emotions when I reflect that thus far they have acted nobly; but 
they have now launched on the wide ocean of life, with no kind parent 
or gentle sister near to aid them in steering their course among the 
rocks and quicksands which lie hidden beneath the smooth surface. My 
dear brother, do not accuse me of presumption when I assume my right, 
as being elder born, of adviser, but receive what I say kindly, as coming 
from your sister, whose only motive is to advance your prosperity and 
happiness. The first and most important consideration is an honest and 
upright walk towards men and love and obedience for God. Be econom- 
ical, but be frugal. Do not endeavor to make a display of liberality, but 
where a deserving object presents itself, give as much as you can spare, 
even if you make a sacrifice of some convenience for yourself. Be al- 
ways dressed with plainness and neatness. Study to make your com- 
pany agreeable to every one. Do not throw away a moment of time. 
A right use of time is the true " philosopher's stone which turns every- 
thing to gold." The hours that you do not devote to business employ in 
useful conversation with well chosen companions or in reading. Seek 
the society of intelligent and virtuous females, and treat them as rational 
creatures. Converse with them on subjects which will show whether 
they have minds or not, and never descend to the mean and pitiful arti- 
fice which some take of ingratiating themselves in the ladies' favor, flat- 



Io6 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

tery. With women of sense it will be disgusting, and with the light 
and frivolous sort you had better have as little to do as possible. 

Oh, how wretched, how miserable must be the condition of that man 
who is united to a woman of a weak and frivolous character; on the 
other hand, supremely blest is he who finds united in his wife sense and 
modesty. She will go hand in hand with him in all his undertakings, 
and he is .-aire to prosper. 

Brother, I believe I had better stop for fear I should tire you, although 
the subject is an inexhaustible one; but let me repeat to you, store your 
mind well with useful knowledge. Two books I would recommend par- 
ticularly for your perusal : Franklin's Works and Cobbel's Advice to 
Young Men. 

For news, I have none of any importance, except what you get through 
the papers. I suppose you have long ere this heard that Mr. Rawlins 
and Miss M. Hickman were married. Father is engaged in buying horses 
for the United States service, which is a very profitable business. Mr. 
Bryan is assisting him. They will both leave on to-morrow for St. 
Louis with sixty horses, which is the fourth drove, being in all about 
190 head he has taken. Mr. Bryan's health is not good. My health is 
excellent. Mother and the family are well. You must write to us what 
sort of a country you live in. I have been wanting Mr. Bryan to go to 
see it, with a view to moving there, if he is pleased. 

Adieu, my dear brother. Accept warmest wishes of your devoted and 
affectionate sister. 

Analyza Gentry. 

All the young Gentrys for generations to come will find it 
profitable to read and ponder this wise and loving sister's ad- 
vice. Its application still holds through all variable and changing 
conditions, from pioneer life to the highest degrees of civiliza- 
tion, and from farm life to the cultivated society of city life. 

2. Richard Harrison (114), born Oct. 15, 1812. 

3. Oliver Perry (115), born April 4, 1814. 

4. Dorothy Ann, born in Madison Co., Ky., March 13, 

1816. She was brought from Kentucky to Missouri 
in 1816 in the arms of her mother who rode on horse- 
back. She married Henry Crumbaugh in Columbia, 
Mo., where he made his home, April 29, 1840; she 
died there March 9, 1854. Mr. Crumbaugh was a 
saddler and harnessmaker, and carried on that busi- 
ness in Columbia until his death. He was a man of 
character and standing, and was for many years a 
ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 107 

Children : 

a. Mary Ann, b. Aug. 26, 1841 ; was a graduate of Christian 

College at Columbia, Mo. ; a cultured, literary woman, 
of considerable travel at home and abroad, and a leader 
among the prominent women of Kansas City in all 
matters of substantial worth and interest. She is a 
member of the society of " Colonial Dames," of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, and several of 
the leading literary and other clubs of the city. She 
married the Hon. Joseph V. C. Karnes, one of the most 
prominent lawyers of the State of Missouri, and one 
who has done much for his city in shaping its destiny, 
especially in its educational interests. They came to 
Kansas City from Columbia, Mo., in 1865. 

Children : 

(1) John Lathrop. 

(2) Josephine, m. Alfred Gregory. 

(3) Mary. 

b. Luther H. Crumbaugh, b. July 24, 1849, in Columbia, Mo. ; 

m. Sallie Harbinson and settled in Neosho, Mo. In 
1892 he was appointed general stock agent of the Kansas 
City Southern Railroad, and still holds the position, 
through many changes of officers, and is now the longest 
time in the service of the company of any employee. 

Children : 

(1) Mary. 

(2) Letta Dora. 

(3) Andrew. 

c. Dorothy Ann, b. Feb. 2^, 1854; m. J. Harris Lipscomb of 

Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 16, 1879. His grandfather, Na- 
than Lipscomb, m. Nancy Gentry, daughter of Martin 
Gentry, in 1800 in Ky., and Mary, daughter of Wm. 
Gentry, married Thorton C. Lipscomb in Henrico Co., 
Va., about 1816. 

Children : 

(1) Joseph Karnes, b. Aug. 28, 1881. 

(2) Grace Dorothy, b. Nov. 6, 1884; m. Charlton C 

Millard of Asheville, N. C, Jan. 5, 1907. 

(3) Henry Crumbaugh, b. Sept. 23, 1890. 

5. Jane, born in Columbia, Mo., March 19, 1818; died in 
Doniphan, Kan., April 8, 1878; married Dr. Herod 
Wales Hudnal in 1849. They lived first in Trenton, 



108 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Mo., then in St. Joseph, Mo., and finally in Doni- 
phan, Kan. 

Children : 

a. Annie, b. 1850. 

b. Paul, b. 1852. 

c. Mary, b. 1853. 

d. Laura, b. 1854. 

e. Eliza, b. i860. 

6. Martha, born in Columbia, Mo., March 3, 1823 ; died 

Feb. 17, 1844; married Erastus Thrall, May 18, 1843. 

Child: 
a. Richard Perry Thrall. He is postmaster at Oma, Cul- 
pepper Co., Va. Married twice; has a grown family; 
was a private in the Spanish War, and owns a com- 
fortable home. 

7. Mary, born in Columbia, Mo., Feb. 25, 1825 ; died Jan. 

10, 1893 ; married Robert Clark of DeKalb Co., Mo., 
June 26, 1855. He was a Confederate soldier and was 
killed in the battle of Independence, Mo., in 1862. 
She married second, her cousin, Boyle Gordon, a 
prominent lawyer of Columbia, Mo., about 1867. 

Children : 

a. Robert Clark. 

b. Gentry Clark, a successful farmer; has a large family in 

Boone Co., Mo. 

c. Anna Gordon, died at about ten years of age. 

d. Marshall Gordon, m. Mary Denny; he has a large landed 

estate adjoining the town of Columbia and a handsome 
home; a splendid man, successful and highly esteemed. 

8. Thomas Benton (116), born Oct. 15, 1830. 

9. Nicholas Hawkins (117), born March 7, 1835. 




I I ■ " \'r 



Hon. Joseph V. C. Karnes 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS IO9 



EXCURSUS— HAWKINS. 

Nicholas Hawkins of Madison Co., Ky., son of Nathan Haw- 
kins, was born in Virginia about 1760. He married Ann Rob- 
inson in Virginia and moved from Spottsylvania Co., Va., to 
Madison Co., Ky., with his wife's father and family, about 1785. 
Nicholas Hawkins was a soldier in the Revolution and was 
present at Yorktown at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. There 
is no record of his military service in the War Department at 
Washington, but the family tradition is very clear and positive. 
It is generally believed, and is almost certain, that this branch 
of the Hawkins family is descended from William Hawkins of 
England, the famous sea captain, who died in 1554, and who 
was the father of Sir John Hawkins, the Admiral, and William 
Hawkins, his brother. Nicholas Hawkins was a man of prom- 
inence and wealth. He left a will, which was proved in Madi- 
son Co., Ky., Jan. 7, 1822, naming his children. 

Children : 

1. Catharine, married first, George Ballard; second, Whit- 

field Broaddus, and third, William Simmons, and had: 
James, William and R. Ballard, Nicholas and Eliza 
Broaddus, and Margaret, Robinson, Charles, William, 
Eliza and Mary Simmons. 

2. Nancy Ann, born Jan. 2, 1791 ; married General Richard 

Gentry. 

3. Dorothy, married Ezekiel Scott, who settled in Saline 

Co., Mo. 

4. William. 

5. Charles J. 

6. Sarah, born 1797; married Green Kerley of Kentucky. 

7. Elizabeth, born 1798; married John Grimes. 

8. Martha, born 1802 ; married Samuel McDowell. 

9. Sophia, born 1805 ; married John B. Gordon of Missouri. 
10. Carry Allen, born 1808; married Cecelia Walker. 



110 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Nathan Hawkins was the father of Nicholas Hawkins. In a 
deposition made July 24, 1790, and recorded in Madison Co., 
Ky., he stated that he was 74 years old, and that he had heard a 
certain conversation in Spottsylvania Co., Va., 31 or 32 years 
previous. He was then born in 1716. He left a will in Madison 
Co., Ky., probated Nov. 4, 1794. The will states that he came 
from Spottsylvania Co., Va., to Kentucky in 1789, and made 
tobacco in the years 1790-1791. He willed to his son, Nicholas 
Hawkins, the mill he had ordered said son to build for him on 
Silver Creek. This will names children and wife, as follows: 

Elizabeth Level, Mary Stephenson, Nancy Schooler, Nicholas 
Hawkins, Nathan Hawkins, Mary Burnett, Simon Hawkins, and 
wife, Catherine Hawkins, sole executrix. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS III 



EXCURSUS— ROBINSON. 

William Robinson of Madison, Ky., was born in Virginia; 
lived in Spottsylvania Co., for many years ; came to Kentucky 
about 1785, and settled on a farm on Silver Creek in Madison 
Co. He married in Spottsylvania Co. about 1764, Sarah Smith, 
daughter of Peyton Smith of said county. Said Spottsylvania 
records also show that William Robinson joined Peyton Smith 
in a deed of gift, dated June 19, 1777, to seven negroes to Ann 
and Dorothy Peyton Robinson, daughters of said William and 
Sarah, his wife, after the death of said William Robinson and 
Sarah, his wife. (Page 30, Virginia Co. Records, Vol. 1.) 

Peyton Smith died, and his son, Robert Smith, was made 
administrator, Aug. 15, 1782. William Robinson's will, dated 
July 22, 1795, was proved in Madison Co., Ky., July 5, 1802. 

Children : 

1. Ann, born 1765; married Nicholas Hawkins about 1785; 

died 1853. 

2. Dorothy Peyton, married John Pitman. 

3. Peyton Robinson. 

4. William Robinson. 

William Robinson and Sarah, his wife, made a deed in 1788 
to their son-in-law, Nicholas Hawkins, Junior, to 388 acres of 
land on Silver Creek, in Madison Co., Ky. In his will, in which 
he made his mark in 1795, his name was spelled Robertson, 
without doubt an error of a lawyer, while in Virginia and in 
other Kentucky records, where he signed his own name, he wrote 
it Robinson. 



58. REV. CHRISTY GENTRY, of Ralls Co., Mo. 

(iS) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Oct. 24, 1790; died March 14, 
1866; married Lucy Christy of Clark Co., Ky., when he was 



112 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

about 22 years old. He joined the Baptist Church and became 
a very devoted Christian, adopted the ministry as his life work, 
for which he seemed eminently fitted by nature. 

He preached about eight years in Kentucky, and came to Ralls 
Co., Mo., in 1830, and continued his work in organizing new 
churches and in preaching to small and destitute churches. 

In 1834 he was moderator of the Bethel Association, and so 
continued for many years. He made many sacrifices in his work 
for his church. His mission seemed to be with the feeble and 
destitute churches in newly settled parts of the country. He 
received but little compensation for his work, many of his 
churches being only mission stations. When they became 
stronger and could secure a pastor, he went beyond, to promote 
the preaching of the gospel in new districts. 

He was a genuine Missionary Baptist, and a strong believer 
and advocate of the missionary work in the contest in the church 
on that subject. It was said of him when he died that he had 
organized more churches, and extended the preaching of the 
gospel to more people, than any other man in the State of Mis- 
souri. It would be hard to find any old settlers in that part of 
Northeast Missouri whose marriage ceremony he did not per- 
form. He was very popular, and everybody honored and loved 
him. His life was entirely devoted to doing good to others. 

Children : 

1. Mary Jane, died in childhood. 

2. Amanda F., married Elisha Moore in 1830. She died 

Feb. 8, 1839, in Shelby Co., Mo. 

Children: 

a. Nancy Jane, d. in infancy. 

b. Lucy Ann, m. Loyd H. Redman of Ralls Co., Mo. 

c. James Christy Moore, m. Laura White, daughter of John 

R. White of Howard Co., Mo. He lived for some years 
on his estate in Howard Co., afterwards went to St. 
Louis, and was for many years cashier of the Mer- 
chants' National Bank. He is a man of wealth and 
fine business ability. 

3. Richard (118). 

4. William Tandy (119). 




Rev. Christy Gentry 



nicholas gentry and his descendants 113 

5. Christy (120). 

6. Rodes Rollins. 

7. Joshua Henry (121). 

8. Overton Harris, married Susan Eliza, and died Feb. 25, 

1885 ; leaving one child : a. Addie May, married Rev. 
Dr. Pentoff, at one time President of Stephens Col- 
lege at Columbia, Mo. 



59. JAMES GENTRY, of Galena, 111. 

(i.S) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born June 5, 1792, in Madison Co., Ky. Came to Missouri 
about 1820, and afterwards became interested in the lead mines 
of Galena, 111. ; died in that neighborhood about 1849, and his 
wife and five children went overland to California that year. 
He was one of the Kentucky volunteers who went to the assist- 
ance of General Harrison on the Northern Lakes in his cam- 
paign against the British and Indians in the War of 1812, and 
was present and took part in the battle of the Thames. 

Children : 

1. Alfred, single, lived in Nevada City, Cal. 

2. Abner, died in 1893 in San Francisco ; was rich at one 

time, kept a fine club house in early days in San Fran- 
cisco, and speculated in mining stocks. 

3. Richard Benton (122). died in 1897. 

4. Martin, lives in Texas, near Fort Griffin, and has six 

daughters. 

5. Mary, married O. C. Torson, and lived in Alameda, 

Cal., and had : James, Mattie and Ole. 



60. JOSHUA GENTRY, of Marion Co., Mo. 

(is) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., June 6, 1797; married Adaline 
Henry of Marion Co., Mo., a native of South Carolina, in 1828. 



114 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

He worked on his father's farm in summer and went to the 
neighborhood log school-house in the winter. This was the only 
opportunity he had for acquiring an education, except by his 
own reading and study after he grew to young manhood. His 
father was an active trader in hogs, cattle and horses. There 
were no railroads in that day, and the stock was driven to mar- 
ket, either to Cincinnati, Louisville or Charleston, S. C. Joshua 
and his brothers learned early to collect the droves of stock and 
take them on foot to market. It was a long journey for a drove 
of hogs on foot from Richmond, Ky., to Charleston, S. C, yet 
young Joshua had made more than one trip of this kind before 
he was sixteen years old. Thus taught to travel and face hard- 
ship, and inheriting the pioneer spirit of adventure and enter- 
prise, he started out for the new territory of Missouri before 
he was of age, and made the trip alone on horseback with but 
a few dollars in his pocket. At St. Louis he soon found em- 
ployment from Col. John Sullivan, who gave him charge of his 
farm near St. Louis. He remained with Col. Sullivan for sev- 
eral years ; they became warm friends, and he had access to the 
Colonel's library, and became fond of reading and study. 

In 1823 he settled in what was afterwards Marion Co. and 
entered and improved land near the present town of Palmyra. 
When Marion Co. was organized in 1826, he was appointed 
Sheriff by the Governor, and held the office by election until 
1832. In the Indian War of 1832 he was appointed Colonel of 
Militia, and from 1835 to 1840 represented his county in the 
State Legislature, and subsequently for several terms in the State 
Senate. 

He prospered greatly in his own business affairs ; in 1850 he 
was the owner of about 4,000 acres of well improved land and 
about 40 slaves. He was much interested in the building of 
the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad; gave much of his time 
and attention to the road as a director and general agent, and 
was soon made President and General Manager. George B. 
Nettleton of Kansas City was his chief engineer. He died just 
before the railroad was completed in January, 1864. At the 
outbreak of the Civil War, notwithstanding he was a large slave- 
holder, he took the side of the Union very promptly; five of his 
sons enlisted, and went to the front, and later six of his negro 




Hon. Joshua Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I15 

men. He was a member of the Baptist Church, a man of in- 
tegrity and a high sense of honor, and very highly respected. 

Children : 

1. Henry Clay (124), born Nov. 5. 1829; married March 

5, 1857, his cousin, Mary Ella Gentry, daughter of his 
uncle, Overton Gentry. 

2. Mary Jane, born May 15, 1832; married Henry C 

Fuqua, April 14, 1853, a farmer of Monroe Co., Mo. 

Children : 

a. William Henry, b. April 16, 1854; m. Jennie Bradly, Jan. 

1. 1880; 8 children. 

b. Joshua G., b. Oct. 1, 1856; m. Julia Watson, Sept. 29, 

1887, Monroe City, Mo. 

c. Porter Bush, b. Oct. 19, 1865 ; m. and lives in Amarillo, 

Texas. 

d. Herbert A., b. Dec. 25, 1872; m. Elizabeth Foley, April, 

1896, Monroe City, Mo. 

3. Adaline, born Aug. 11, 1834; married Alexander Bow- 

ling of Hannibal, Mo.; he died Aug. 11, 1883. 

Children : 

a. Mary C, m. S. A. Gillette, and had Fred and Fannie E. 

b. Elizabeth, m. Dr. James Johnson, April 3, 1884, and lives 

in Philadelphia. 

Children : 

(1) Pauline, b. Jan. 12, 1885. 

(2) John A., b. Nov. 8, 1886. 

(3) Joshua D., b. June 18, 1896. 

(4) Margaret A., b. May 2, 1900. 

c. Alexander. 

d. Cammie, m. Gordon and had Gentry S. and Joseph A. 

4. Joshua Henry (125). 

5. William Richard, born Aug. 18, 1838; died Dec. 20, 

1866; married Leah M. Reynolds; no living issue. He 
served three years in the Union Army and died 
soon after the war at his mother's home. 

6. Joseph M. (126). 



il6 the gentry family in america 

7. John Campbell (127). 

8. Analiza, married J. Porter Bush, her cousin, November, 

i860, and died February, 1892. 

Children : 

a. James, b. April 5, 1865, Temple, Texas. 

b. Charles Christy, b. June 26, 1867. 

c. Jesse J., b. June 24, 1869. 

d. Sarah C, b. June 28, 1872 ; m. James P. Green. 

e. Ambrose G., b. July II, 1874. 

/. Catherine M., b. April 17, 1881. 
g. Annetta H., b. March 26, 1883. 

9. James Blythe (128), born 1847. 

10. Henrietta, born Dec, 1849; married Stephen Glascock, 

Dec. 5, 1868, Hannibal, Mo. 

Children : 

a. Adaline, b. Dec. 27, 1870; m. John B. Drake, May l6, 

1894, Hannibal, Mo. 

b. Mary Lucy, b. July 18, 1875; m. Claude C. Tarlton, Sept. 

11, 1900. 

c. Davila W., b. Nov. 7, 1877; m. Thos. Bryan, Aug. 27, 

1900, Palmyra, Mo- 

d. Henry Hobson, b. Sept. 5, 1879, Hannibal, Mo. 

e. Henrietta G, b. March 18, 1882. 
/. Catherine P., b. Oct. 3, 1886. 

11. Charles Rodes (129). 



61. JOSEPH GENTRY, of Lincoln Co., Ky. 

(is) Richard IV, David HI, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 29, 1799; died March 26, 
1864; married Elizabeth Tribble, daughter of Rev. Peter Tribble 
of that county, whose mother was a daughter of George Boone, 
a brother of Daniel Boone. He lived on a part of his father's 
farm for a number of years and finally bought a farm in Lin- 
coln Co., Ky. He and his brother Overton made the first drive 
of hogs, on foot, from that part of Kentucky to Charleston, 
S. C, a distance of about 600 miles. Before the days of railroads, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 117 

Charleston remained for a long time a profitable stock mar- 
ket. He was a prosperous farmer and trader and owned a 
number of slaves. He was six feet two inches in height and 
finely proportioned; a fine conversationalist, a good story teller, 
a good woodsman, a great hunter, and his father's favorite hunt- 
ing companion. He always kept a fine pack of hounds, and 
delighted in the sport of the chase. He was very popular with 
his neighbors and especially with the young people, on account 
of his kindly, generous nature. He and his wife were both 
Baptists. 

Children : 

1. Jane, married Wm. Smith, son of Benjamin Smith of 

Madison Co., Ky. 

Children: 

a. Elizabeth, m. Woodson Ferrill. 

b. Matilda, m. Richard Bush, her cousin. 

c. Josephine, m. Henry Bright, and second m. Mr. Mc- 

Carthy of Danville, Ky. 

d. , m. Judge Buckner of Winchester, Ky. 

2. Peter Tribble (130), born Dec. 19, 1819. 

3. Mary Frances, born Jan. 1, 1818; married Owen Parish. 

Children: 

a. William, m. Mary Sutton and had Mary Boone. 

b. Jennie, b. July, 1842; m. Owen P. Lynch and had Annie, 

Owen and Walter. 

c. Bettie, m. Capt. Thos. Ferrill. 

Children : 

(1) Mary F., b. June 9, 1867; m. W. D. Oldham. 

(2) Pattie, m. Thomas Ellison. 

(3) Benjamin, m. Pattie Green. 

(4) Jennie, b. Oct. 27, 1875; m. H. C. Shipp. 

(5) Wm. Fountain, b. Nov. 22, 1872. 

(6) Mattie. 

(7) Taylor. 

d. Annie, b. Oct. 9, 1841 ; m. Wm. E. Myers, Nov. 10, 1874, 

and had Smith, Joseph and Janie. 

e. John W., m. Bettie White. 

f. Peter, b. June 26, 1856; m. Clara Pellion and had A. T., 

Owen C, Nannie, Jno. W., Peter, Fountain, Mary and 
Sallie. 



Il8 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

g. Payton E., b. Sept. 27, 1853; m. Olive Doves, and 2d, 
Annie Tourence. 

h. Pattie, b. Oct. 14, 1848; m. 1st, Squire Parish; m. 2d, 
Anderson Tiffin Chenault of Richmond, Ky., b. April 
19, 1827. The latter served three winters in the Ken- 
tucky Legislature ; was a gentleman of character and 
worth. He was a son of Anderson Chenault. 

Children: 

(1) Armer T. 

(2) Harvey E. 

4. Nancy Boone, married Wm. G. Woods ; he died and she 

married second, her cousin, Reuben Gentry, of Pettis 
Co., Mo. 

5. Joseph H. (131), born Sept. 20, 1831; died Oct. 26, 

1863. 

6. Richard, died single, November, 1862. 

7. Alexander T., born October, 1838; died August, 1862. 

8. Harris R, born Oct. 15, 1829; died Dec. 1, 1856. 

9. Wm. Harrison (132). 

10. Overton Harris (133), born June 16, 1836. 



62. OVERTON GENTRY, of Lincoln Co., Ky. 

(15) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., June 30, 1802 ; married Lucinda 
Reid and settled in Lincoln Co., Ky., on a farm ; died Sept. 20, 
1879. 

Children : 

1. John Franklin (134). 

2. William Eskridge (135). 

3. Ann Miller, married John M. McRobards. No issue. 

4. Overton H., married Miss Wood. No issue. 

5. Thomas Jefferson. Lives in Mississippi. 

6. Joseph, born Sept. 23, 1839; married the widow of 

Charles Bullins, and had Hallie and William E. 

7. Bell, married Russell Rainey. Moved to Missouri. 

8. Ellen, married Henry Clay Gentry, her cousin. 

9. Jane Harris, married Wm. Forbes ; married second, Dr. 

Thomas Ellis of Maryville, Mo. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS IIO, 

Children : 

a. Reuben Forbes. 

b. Leander Eskridge Ellis, killed by accident. 

c. Overton Gentry Ellis, m. Jessie Wilhite of Kansas City, 

Mo. ; was graduated from Missouri State University, 
and is a practicing lawyer in Tacoma, Washington. 



63. RODES GENTRY, of Ralls Co., Mo. 

(is) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 5, 1804; married Allie Moore, 
who died in 1835. He moved to Missouri and settled in Ralls 
Co. Married second, Nancy Culbertson of Marion Co., Mo., 
in 1836. He died on his farm, Sept. 10, 1845, an ^ n ^ s wife, 
Nancy, died in 1864. 

Children, by first marriage: 

1. Nancy Jane, born in Kentucky; married Guy Brashear 

and lived in Carroll Co., Texas. She died in 1896. 
She had 12 children, 54 grandchildren and 22 great- 
grandchildren, in 1903. 

2. James Christy, born in Kentucky; died February, 1896. 

Lived in Oregon ; had 2 sons and 4 daughters. 

3. Wm. Overton (136), born in Missouri June 12, 1833. 

4. Mary Ann, born in Kentucky, 1835. 

Children, by second marriage: 

5. Amanda Rodes. 

6. Samuel R., married Amanda Ferrell ; died on his way 

to California in 1864. 

7. Allie, born Aug. 21, 1841 ; married Ephraim Ferrell, 

Dec. 13, 1855. She lived at Wagoner, I. T., in 1899. 



Children : 



a. Erodia. 

b. Onie. 

c. Nancy J. 

d. James E. 

e. Rachael. 

/. Penelope H. 

g. Samuel R. 



120 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

It. Adeline. 

i. John H. 

;. Albert H. 

k. Sarah E. 



64. JOSIAH COLLINS GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(IS) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 19, 1822; married Matilda 
Webster of Richmond, Ky. He and his wife both died young. 

Children : 

1. Richard C, married Mary E. Banta. 

a. Nancy Elizabeth, who married Henry Vanarsdall of Mer- 

cer Co., Ky. 

b. Josiah Collins, b. April 5, 1873. 

c. Harvey B. 

d. James. 

2. Nannie, married Dr. J. A. Russell. They moved to Cal- 

ifornia, and had: Maud and Sloan. 



65. ROBERT RICHARD GENTRY, of Lincoln Co., Ky. 

(15) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., March 1, 1824; he died near Stan- 
ford, Ky., March 3, 1887. He was reared on the old Gentry 
homestead, in Madison Co., Ky., and remained there until about 
1845, when his then widowed mother moved to Lincoln Co. and 
bought a farm near Stanford, taking with her her youngest 
children, Robert, Valentine, Wm. J., and her only daughter, 
Mary Jane. He remained with his mother until 1849, when he 
married Mary Catherine Engleman and bought a home four 
miles from Stanford. He was a good husband, provided well 
for his household, was an indulgent father, a large-hearted, 
typical Gentry; a friend to the poor, and kind to everyone. 
He was an energetic, progressive farmer and trader. Fond of 
books, he kept well up with the leading topics of the day. A 
generous hospitality was the rule of his household. In his last 




Mrs. Ann Hawkins Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 121 

years he was a member of the church. His one indulgence in 
the way of sport was fox-hunting, which he kept up through 
life, riding to the hounds with ease and full of enjoyment after 
he had reached the weight of 250 pounds. He was six feet two 
inches in height, of a florid complexion, almost black hair, dark 
gray eyes, and a Roman nose — a handsome, portly gentleman. 

Children : 

1. Eliza Ann, born Dec. 7, 1849; married John Blaine, 

who was for many years clerk of the court at Stan- 
ford. She has been a widow for many years. She is a 
lady of culture and refinement, well educated and well 
read. 

2. Joseph Collins, died in Abiline, Texas, in 1888. His 

widow, Bell S. Gentry, now lives in Newbern, Tenn., 
with her children. 

Children : 

a. Blain, b. Jan. 10, 1880. 

b. Joseph Helm. 

c. Blythe. 

d. Richard Collins. 

3. Robert Richard, married and lives on his father's old 

place. His brothers, Christian E. and James, both 
single, live with him. 

Children: 

a. Anna Lewis. 

b. Catherine. 

c. Robert Huston. 

4. Christian E., born July 21, 1856. 

5. James B., born April 29, 1859. 

6. Richard. 



66. CHARLES WALKER GENTRY, of Harrodsburg, Ky. 

(is) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Feb. 26, 1826; died Dec. 3, 1903; 
married Esther Ann Kikendall, Jan. 24, 1850. Was educated 



122 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

in the public schools of Madison Co. His father died when he 
was seventeen years of age. 

He was a merchant until 1850, when he married a daughter 
of Samuel Kikendall in Madison Co. He then went to farming, 
because he could utilize his negro slaves. He sold his farm in 
a few years and again went to merchandizing. He was also a 
magistrate in his county. He invested in Iowa and Missouri 
lands, and met with considerable losses through carelessness 
and treachery of agents. The Civil War, too, caused losses of 
his slaves and other property. In Mercer Co. he was again made 
a magistrate, and later county surveyor, which last office he 
held for 24 years. He was a liberal-minded, well-informed man, 
an excellent conversationalist, and a good story teller. He was 
of an open, frank nature, and generous to a fault. He was fond 
of reading and study, particularly of science and history. He 
had a remarkable memory and was full of reminiscences of 
the early days in Kentucky and of the Gentry family, for which 
he had great love and of which he was very proud. He attended 
both Gentry family reunions. 

Children : 

1. Minerva Walters, unmarried. 

2. Harriet Sullivan, born Jan. 24, 1853; married J. H. 

Terhune. a. Charles ; b. William V. ; c. Hattie ; d. 
Dalton. 

3. Samuel K., born May 17, 1855 ; married Emma Rust 

of Danville, Ky. 

4. Charles Richard, married Maggie Littell. 

5. Louisa, born April 4, i860. 

6. Mary Cabell. 

7. Esther V., born June 3, 1866; married E. T. Caldwell. 

8. John Kikendall. 



67. VALENTINE WHITE GENTRY, of Lincoln Co., Ky. 

(15) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., May 22, 1827; married Susan 
Engleman, sister of his brother Robert's wife. He died young, 
leaving six children. 



nicholas gentry and his descendants i23 

Children : 

1. Christian V., born Feb. 3, 1857; married Pattie Farris 

and had: Farris, born April 4, 1891 ; Mary C, born 
May 4, 1887; Pearl, born Aug. 6, 1883. 

2. Harvey Helm, married Nettie . Lives on his farm 

near Independence, Mo. 

3. Mary E., married Sullivan Shy of Kentucky, and had 

Conger and Stanwood. 

4. Susan, married her cousin, Thomas Gentry, son of Peter 

T. Gentry of Boyle Co., Ky. 

5. Patsie, married John Scott of Danville, Ky., and had 

one child, John Stout Scott. 

6. Nancy Catherine. 



68. WILLIAM JAMES GENTRY, of Eucha, Oklahoma. 

(iS) Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Feb. 26, 1832; married Nancy 
Bright of Lincoln Co., Ky., and some years after moved to 
Clay Co., Mo. Like many others of his name, he was fond of 
adventure and a soldier born. During the Civil War he enlisted 
from Kentucky and fought for the Confederacy during the en- 
tire war. After living in Missouri a number of years, he moved 
to the Indian Territory with his family about 1890, and in 1908 
was still at Eucha, Indian Territory, now the State of Oklahoma. 

Children : 

1. Tyre. "^ 

2. Harry. WDied unmarried. 

3. Charles. J 

4. Richard, married Ida Youngblood, and had: Elma and 

four daughters. 

5. Sallie, married Mr. Ralph and had : Ruby, and Robert. 

6. Jenny, married G. W. Mitchell of Independence, Mo., 

and had one child. Georgia. 

7. William M., married Miss Taylor, Vinita, Oklahoma. 

8. Robert ; Eucha, Oklahoma. 

9. Austin ; Grove, Oklahoma. 



124 TH E GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

69. JAMES GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born about 1782 in Virginia; came as a child to Kentucky 

with his parents; married Elizabeth ; died August, 1809. 

Inventory of his estate was recorded Aug. 7, 1809, in Madison 
Co., Ky., and about same time allotment of dower was made his 
wife, Elizabeth. Mathew Markland of Richmond, Ky., admin- 
istered on his estate. 

Children : 

1. William, born about 1800; died in Wayne Co., Ind., in 

1866; was a well-to-do farmer; at his death owned 
1000 acres of fine land ; married Nancy Bell of Ken- 
tucky and had nine children. 

2. Thomas, born about 1802; died in 1873, in Wayne Co., 

Ind. He and his brother, William, went to Indiana 
about 1830, soon after they were married. He had a 
large family of which Mrs. Mary J. Lampson of 
Washington, D. C, is the only one now living. 

3. Sallie. 

4. Pollie. 

5. David, born near Richmond, Ky., April, 1808; married 

Jane Tilly of Buncombe Co., N. C. ; settled in Wayne 
Co., Ind., in 1830; served two terms as Sheriff of that 
county. A successful farmer. Died in 1891. 

Children : 

a. William T. Gentry, b. July 11, 1832; appointed a cadet 

at West Point in 1852, and was graduated from that 
military institution in 1856, and served in the regular 
army until his death on June 28, 1885. He was 1st 
lieutenant in the 17th infantry, May, 1861 ; captain Oct. 
24, 1861 ; was made major of 9th infantry March, 1879, 
and lieut. colonel of 25th infantry April 14, 1884. He 
was breveted major the 6th of July, 1864, for gallant 
service at the crossing of North Anna River in Va., 
and during the campaign before Richmond. He was 
also breveted lieut. colonel, April 1, 1865, for gallant 
and meritorious services in the battle of Five Forks, Va. 

b. James H., b. July 12, 1834; farming, merchandizing and 

insurance were his occupations. He served on the staff 
of Governor O. P. Morton during the Civil War. He 
lives at Centerville, Ind. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 125 

Children : 

(1) Irene Gentry Hurst. 

(2) Blanch Gentry Cook. 



70. BRIGHT BERRY GENTRY, of Kentucky. 

(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born September, 1784, in Virginia; a farmer; married first, 
Martha Jones, and second, Cynthia Mourning. 

Children : 

1. Eliza, married John Arnold. 

2. Fannie, married Thomas Lamb. 

3. Albert, lived in Kentucky; was a Union soldier in Civil 

War, and died from wounds received in battle. 

4. William Christopher. 

5. Nancy Jane. 

6. Martha E. 

7. Peggy, married West. 

8. James H., died near Beardstown, 111. ; had ten children, 

his oldest son, John N. 

9. David (138). 

10. Jonathan Jackson (139). 



71. PLEASANT GENTRY, of Clay Co., Mo. 

(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., Feb. 19, 1787; moved to Clay 
Co. in 1833, and improved a farm ; died at 81 years of age. 

Children : 

1. David, born 1814; married and had: William, John, 

George, and four girls. 

2. Anderson, born 1816. No issue. 

3. Westley, born 1818. Had son, Bird. 

4. Pleasant (140), born 1820. 

5. Henry, born 1822. No issue. 

6. Jane, born 1812; married Andrew Wilhoit. 



126 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

7. Mary, born 1824. 

8. Elizabeth, born 1828 ; married Thos. Hulse. 

9. Jaley, born 1833 ; married Jacob Faddis. 



72. DAVID GENTRY, of Estill Co., Ky. 

(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky, April 27, 1794; married Jaley Ham and 
settled in Estill Co., Ky., and was buried at the Old Red Lick 
Church. 

Children : 

1. Oney, married Stephen Gum and had twin daughters, 

born March 31, 1819. 

2. Rhoda, married Thomas Cox and had 9 children. 

3. Spicy, born June 20, 1821 ; married Obednigo Park. 

4. James H., born Aug. 23, 1823. 

5. Martha, born Nov. 16, 1825 ; married Simpson Wagers 

in Estill Co., Ky., and had six children. 

Children : 

a. Coleman B., b. May 30, 1850. 

b. James Lewis, b. Feb. II, 1852. 

c. Jno. Thomas, b. March 21, 1856, King City, Mo. 

d. Owen G., b. March 31, 1859; lives in California. 

e. Mary E., b. May 17, 1861. 
/. Armilda, b. Jan. 26, 1864. 

6. Pleasant, born June 23, 1828. 

7. Bailey, born Nov. 27, 1832. 

8. David W. (141), born March 25, 1834. 



73. RICHARD GENTRY, of Hendricks Co., Ind. 

(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Sept. 7, 1795, in Kentucky; married Jane Kindred, his 
cousin, and settled in Hendricks Co., Ind., near Maplewood. 

Children : 

1. William, born March 19, 1817. 

2. Polly, born Nov. II, 1818. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 



127 



3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
11 

12 



Elizabeth, born Nov. 5, 1820. 

Austin, born , 1822. 

George, born Nov. 17, 1824. 
John, born Dec. 9, 1826. 
Nancy, born Oct. 18, 1828. 
Jane, born Feb. 1, 183 1. 
Richard, born Jan. 6, 1833. 
Martin, born Nov. 19, 1835. 
Lucinda, born Sept. 15, 1837. 
Minerva, born March 26, 1839. 



74. MARTIN GENTRY, 



of Hendricks Co., Ind. 



(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Nov. 12, 1798, in Kentucky; married Elizabeth Kin- 
dred, his cousin, and settled in Hendricks Co., Ind. 



1 
2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 

11 

12 

13 



Children : 
Joshua, born Feb. 25, 1824, Winterset, Iowa. 
Bailey, born Dec. 28, 1826. 
Polly, born Dec. 17, 1828. 
John, born April 17, 1830. 
Jane, born Oct. 8, 1834. 
James, born Jan. 2, 1837. 
William, born June 10, 1840. 
Margaret, born Jan. 16, 1842. 
Martin, born Dec. 12, 1843. 

David, born , 1832. 

Susan, born Oct. 14, 1846. 
Pleasant, born April 19, 1849. 
Harvey, born 15, 1833. 



75. BAILEY GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(16) David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born March 11, 1807; married Lucinda Kindred; lived and 
died on his father's old farm in Kentucky. 



128 the gentry family in america 

Children : 

1. James V., married Mary Kindred; 8 children. 

2. David Robert, married Mary Ellen Gentry, his cousin, 

daughter of James H. Gentry; 9 children. 

3. Maranda, married Morton Rucker; 4 children. 

4. Mary Frances, married Manuel Kelly; 5 children. 

5. Pleasant K., married Druella Park; was a private in 

Union Army in Civil War; 7 children. 

6. Martin M., married Cynthia Kindred ; a Union soldier. 

7. Winnie E., married William Adkison. 



76. JOHN GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(19), John IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Bullitt Co., Ky. ; married Rhoda Harris in 1804. 

Children : 



Bluford. 

Squire. 

Elisha. 

Wingfield. 

James. 

Charles. 



77. MARTIN GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(19) John IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia in 1791 ; bought land in Bullitt Co. in 1814; 
married and reared a family there. He was a man of affairs and 
good means; had ten slaves and 600 acres of good land; was 
also a contractor and bridge builder. He was stabbed with a 
knife and killed by a crazy man by the name of Swearinger, in 
1825, at the age of 34 years. 

Children : 

1. Tipton. 

2. Seaton. 

3. Martin, unmarried. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 120, 

78. RANSOM GENTRY, of Georgia. 

(20) Martin IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Ogelthorp Co., Ga. ; married Lena Brook in 1834 
and moved to Alabama in 1845. Was a Baptist minister and 
was chaplain of the 45th Alabama Regiment. He died June 16, 
1863, of wounds he received at the battle of Murfreesboro. The 
brothers of Ransom Gentry scattered all over the country; Al- 
fred went to Mississippi in 1834. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth, born July 18, 1836; married William Phil- 

lips of Forest Home, Ala. 

2. Ransom Henry, born Feb. 9, 1840; married Bras- 

mell of Elgin, Texas. 

3. Gilbert Martin (142), born Jan. 30, 1843. 

4. Hepsahitt H., born May 27, 1845 J married James M. 

Ramsey in 1866. 

5. Lena Ann, born May 7, 1848 ; married J. O. Duck. 



79. JOSEPH GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(21) Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born about 1788 in Bedford Co., Va. ; came to Bullitt Co., 
Ky., in 1797, with his father; married Sarah Stringer, Nov. 20, 
1810; bought land in 1814 in Bullitt Co. 

Children : 

1. Blackston. His son, Madison, lives at Mt. Washing- 

ton, Ky., William at Jonestown, Ky., and his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Jennie Brown, lives at Owensboro, Ky. 

2. William. No issue. 

3. John. Daughter, Sallie, married Bailey Jones and lives 

at Malat, Ky. ; daughter Delia married Ellinsworth ; 
and his son, George, lives at Owensboro, Ky. 

4. Retta, married Brown and had : Prestley, who lives 

at Jonestown, Ky. ; Martin, and daughter, Mrs. Lewis 
Kirk. 



I30 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

5. Anna, married Mothershead — one of her daugh- 

ters married Lafe Gentry and lives at Mt. Washington, 
Ky. 

6. Samuel, died June 30, 1899. 

Children : 

a. John. 

b. Thomas. 



80. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(21) Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., Dec. 16, 1790; came to Kentucky at 
seven years of age, and was a prominent man in his commu- 
nity; married Barbara Hall, Sept. 20, 1810; died June 2, 1816. 

Children : 
I. Eliza, married William Stringer, Jan. 3, 1839; his first 
wife was Elizabeth Gentry, daughter of Henry Gentry, 
whom he married May 13, 1830. 

Children : 

a. James. 

b. Julia. 

c. Rispy. 

d. William. 

e. Nicholas. 
/. David. 

g. Eliza. 

h. Lemuel T., b. Dec. 31, 1857. 

3. Mary. 

4. David (143)- 

5. William (144). 

6. James Bunch (145). 

7. Rachael. 

8. Louis, born June 20, 1828; died June 28, 1854; married 

Bettie Lux. 

9. Lemuel King, born May 31, 1830; died June 28, 1858; 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 



131 



a miller by trade ; noted for his natural genius and 
pleasing personality. Consumption cut his life down to 
28 years. 



81. MARTIN GENTRY, of California. 

(21) Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia about 1790; came to Kentucky in 1797; mar- 
ried twice ; after second marriage moved to Pitman Co., Ind. ; 
later with his second family of children he moved to Piatt Co., 
Mo., in 1832 ; died in California in 1852. 

Children, by first wife: 

1. William, died in Winterset, Iowa, in 1861. 

2. Dorcey (twin). 

3. Dicey (twin), married Wm. Ring of Duquoin, 111.; 9 

children. 

4. Gillie, married Joseph Stultz ; lived in Zionville, Ind. ; 

had 4 sons and 6 daughters. 

Children, by second wife: 



5- 


Jackson. 


6. 


James. 


7- 


Alexander 


i 8 - 


John. 


9- 


Eliza. 


10. 


Elizabeth. 


11. 


Margaret. 



82. SAMUEL GENTRY, 



of Bullitt Co., Ky. 



(21) Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia and raised in Bullitt Co., Ky. ; married Eliz- 
abeth Newkirk, Nov. 23, 181 5, and moved to Henderson Co., 
Ky., and left a large family. He served as a private in the War 
of 1812, under Gen. W. H. Harrison, on the Northern Lakes, 



132 



THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



in the 5th Kentucky Regiment and in Capt. Hornbeck's Com- 
pany, and took part in the battle of the Thames. 

Children : 
I. Joseph B., born July 27, 1821 ; died March 18, 1871, in 
Barlow City, Ballard Co., Ky. 



Children : 

a. Charles H. 

b. William. 

c. Samuel. 

d. Sealey E. 

e. America R. 

Clifton N. 

James. 

William. 

Asa. 

Fountain. 

Garland, Pools Mills, Webster Co., Ky. 



83. JEREMIAH GENTRY, of Stilesville, Ind. 

(21) Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born April 27, 1827, in Bullitt Co., Ky., settled in Stilesville, 
Ind., after leaving- Kentucky, and has lived there nearly ever 
since. 

Ruth Gentry, his daughter, commenced teaching school at the 
age of 16; from her savings paid her way through college, and 
was graduated from the Michigan University in 1890. In 1890 
and 1 89 1 she was a Fellow in Mathematics in Bryn Mawr 
College; in '91 and '92 she was European Fellow of the Associa- 
tion of Collegiate Alumnae, and continued her studies under 
Professors Fuchs, Schnary and others in the University of 
Berlin. After spending a part of 1892 and 1893 in Paris, she 
returned to Bryn Mawr, where she was again made Fellow in 
Mathematics, and in 1894 she received her Ph. D. degree, al- 
though her thesis was not published until 1896. From 1894 to 
1902 she taught mathematics in Vassar College and has lately 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I33 

been teaching in a private school in Pittsburg, Pa. She is a 
woman of rare attainments and scholarship. 



84. SAMUEL L. GENTRY, of Kentucky. 

(22) James Richard IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Oct. 5, 181 5, in Adair Co., Ky. He was a tanner by 
trade and ran a tannery for many years near Ft. Donaldson, 
Tenn., in Stewart Co. ; he was also a magistrate for 25 years in 
that county; died at Princeton, Ky., in 1883. 



Children : 
Kain A., b. 1858; a merchant tailor in Princeton, Ky. 
Henry, Clarksville, Tenn. 
Samuel L., New Harmony, Ind. 
James M., Princeton, Ky. 
F. J. Gentry, Hopkinsville, Ky., born May 7, 1853. 



85. JOHN B. GENTRY, of Frankford, Ky. 

(22) James Richard IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Adair Co., Ky. ; married a Miss King at Crab Or- 
chard, Ky. ; was an oculist and practiced his profession for a 
long time at Frankford, Ky. At the breaking out of the Civil 
War, he and his four sons went into the Southern Army. In 
1883 he died at Waco, Ky., at the home of Mrs. Mary S. Dud- 
ley, his daughter. 

Children : 

1. Richard K., Southern soldier, killed in battle. 

2. John B., Southern soldier, killed in battle. 

3. Napoleon (150), Southern soldier. 

4. Flavius V., born in Adair Co., Ky., Feb. 12, 1840. He 

is married, but has no children. He has been in the 
wholesale oyster and fish business at Port Lavaca, 
Texas, on the gulf coast, for a number of years ; was 
a Southern soldier. 



134 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

5. Mary S., married Thomas P. Dudley of Waco, Ky. 



86. ROBERT GENTRY, of Jackson Co., Tenn. 

(25) Bartlett IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in White Co., Tenn. ; married and reared his family in 
Jackson Co., Tenn. 

Children : 

1. Silas. 

2. William. 

3. Meredith. 



87. JOYNER GENTRY, of Belfant, Ala. 

(25) Bartlett IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Jefferson Co., Tenn., about 1796; was living - in Bel- 
fant, Jackson Co., Ala., in 1841, and probably remained there, 
although most of his brothers left that state. 



Children : 



1. Washington. 

2. Bartlett. 

3. Gideon. 



88. JOHN GENTRY, of Neosho, Mo. 

(25) Bartlett IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born near Dandridge, Tenn. ; married and moved to Alabama, 
and then to Missouri and settled at Neosho ; died in 1852. His 
wife was formerly Mary Smith. She also died in Neosho, Mo. 
They had seven children, all of whose names are not known. 

Children : 

1. Jefferson Fisk (151), born in Tennessee, Sept. 10, 

1819; died in Cadiz, Ky.. March 21, 1897. 

2. Dulaney. 

3. Calvin Bartlett, resides in Yreka, Cal. 

4. John Perry; died in Collierville, Tenn., in 1881. He 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 



135 



married Madaline Barbere in Paducah, Ky., and had 
three children. 

Children : 

a. John Perry. 

b. Madaline May, m. Wynne James of Doylestown, Pa. 

c. Brooksie, b. in Memphis, Tenn. ; m. W. H. Garges of 

Doylestown, Pa. 

5. Dorinda, lived and died in Neosho, Mo. 



89. BARTLETT GENTRY, of Seymour, Mo. 

(25) Bartlett IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in East Tennessee in 1803 ; moved to Alabama, thence to 
Missouri in 1842; died in Seymour, Mo., in 1894. 



Children : 

Oliver H., born 1829. 

Lorenzo G., born 1831. 

Bartlett J., died in 1875. 

James M., died in 1850. 

Joiner* D., born in 1833 in Alabama; came to Missouri 
with his father's family in about 1842, and he and all 
his brothers lived in southern Missouri. He mar- 
ried Martha J. and reared five sons and two daughters. 







Children : 


a. 


William S. 




b. 


Amos B. 




c. 


Charles 0. 




d. 


Robert C. 




e. 


Mary Jane. 




f. 


Martha Ann. 





90. JOHN GENTRY, of Carroll Co., Ark. 

(26) Martin IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in East Tennessee, near Dandridge ; married Priscilla 
Graham, Oct. 1, 1812, and moved to Carroll Co., Ark., in 1848. 



* The name, Joiner, comes from Philip Joyner of Charlottesville, Va., 
the great grandfather of Bartlett Gentry No. 89. The Missouri Gentrys 
now spell the name, Joiner. 



i36 the gentry family in america 

Children : 

1. Wesley. 

2. Martin 



91. CHARLES GENTRY, of Jefferson Co, Tenn. 

(26), Martin IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born April 10, 1794; died Sept. 16, 1846; married Rhoda 
Carson, Dec. 27, 1824, who died Oct. 22, 1870. He lived at the 
old Gentry homestead near Dandridge, Tenn. He was a soldier 
in the War of 1812. 

Children : 

1. Martin W., was a Confederate soldier and was captured 

at Arkansas Post and kept a prisoner at Camp Chase 
during the balance of the war. He resides at Piano, 
Texas. 

2. Darthula A. 

3. Orlena B, married F. P. Hall of Washington Co., 

Tenn. Their oldest son was Gentry Hall. 

4. Samuel C. (152). 

5. Martha E., resides at Nina, Tenn. 

6. James H., resides at Mansfield, Mo. ; was a Confed- 

erate soldier; captured at battle of Big Black River 
in Mississippi in 1863, and held a prisoner until the 
close of the Civil War. 



92. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Ky. 

(29) James IV, Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia, Dec. 23, 1809; died in Monroe Co, Ky, 
October, 1880. He came with his father to Kentucky from 
Virginia in 1813. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth. 

2. Nancy. 

3. John. 

4. James. 

5. Charles M. (153). 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 1 37 



6. 


Robert. 


7- 


Theoclrick 


8. 
9- 

IO. 

ii. 


Jesse. 
Mary. 
Turner. 
Susan. 



93. ROBERT GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Ky. 

(29), James IV, Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia and came to Kentucky with his father in 
1813; married Dilema Moody. 

Children : 

1. James. 

2. John. 

3. William T. (154). 

4. Ellen. 



94. ALBERT H. GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(31) Robert IV, Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia April 20, 1823, near Charlottsville ; he still 
lived in that neighborhood in 1902 ; married first, Mary Somers, 
and has married twice since. He was a farmer and trader and 
had been a large railroad contractor. Below are some of his 
children. 

Children : 

1. William Lewis, born May 26, 1850. 

2. Edgar Hamilton, born Aug. 18, 1858. 

3. Albert Benjamin, born June 2, 1862. 

4. Philip Hudson, born Dec. 14, 1870. 



95. WILLIAM B. GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

(32) Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in 1802; died in 1834, in Louisa Co., Va. ; married Sallie 
Sargent, March 11, 1824. He was a farmer. 



i38 the gentry family in america 

Children : 

1. James N. (155). 

2. William F., a merchant in Charlottesville, Va. No issue. 

3. John Rice (156). 

4. Susan A., married John M. Jordan, June 27, 1853. 

Their children: William H. and Mary reside in 
Gordonsville, Va. 



96. THOMAS J. GENTRY. 

(34) Josiah IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., July 18, 1797; died May 9, 1844. 
A well-to-do farmer, a fair speaker, and took part in public 
affairs. He was a member of the Kentucky Legislature when he 
died. He had five children, but they all died without issue, 
except Curran Gentry, a bachelor, who lives at Hobart, Okla. 



97. RICHARD GENTRY, of Boone Co., Mo. 

(35) Bartlett IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky ; came as a boy with his father to Boone 
Co., Mo., and lived in " Black Foot," N. E. of Columbia. He 
was a race horse owner, and was called " Little Dick." He 
made one or more freighting' trips across the plains to Santa 
Fe before 1845 with his brother Nicholas. 

Children : 

1. Nicholas M. 

2. Crato, born Sept. 15, 1820; died 1884; had 21 children; 

one son, Timberlake Gentry, had a son, Paul Francis 
Gentry, who lived in St. Louis, Mo. Crato and sev- 
eral of his sons were printers. 



97^. JAMES GENTRY, of Madison Co., Ky. 

(36) John IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Nov. 5, 1802 ; died on his farm in 
same county in 1899 at 97 years of age. He was hale and 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I39 

hearty only a few days before his death, and had made a hand 
in plowing on the farm the year that he died. He was a man 
of fine character and was greatly loved and respected by all who 
knew him. 

Children : 
1. Susan, married Napoleon B. Golden. 



Robert, lives near Paradise, Clay Co., Mo. 

James C. (156^), born Feb. 2, 1835. 

Josiah, born March 6, 1836, in Kentucky. 

John P., born May 31, 1838. 

Rebecca, born June 27, 1839. 

William, born July 7, 1840. 

Thomas J., born Feb. 7, 1843. Lived in Wichita, Kan. 

Martin, born March 23, 1850. Lived in Moberly, Mo. 



98. HAYDEN GENTRY, of Hopkinsville, Ky. 

(37) Martin IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Richmond, Ky. ; came to Missouri with his mother in 
1843 but later returned to Hopkinsville and married a Miss 
Carson in 1847. 

Children : 

1. William D. (157). 

2. Horace B. (158). 

3. Alfred Shaw (159). 

4. Hayden. 

5. Harriet, married H. G. Shupert and resides in Ravenna, 

Ohio. 

6. Elizabeth, married R. F. Ferguson of Hopkinsville, Ky. 



SIXTH GENERATION 

99. JAMES M. GENTRY, of Shelbyville, Mo. 

(38) Jesse V, James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Oct. 2$, 1835, m Marion Co., Mo. ; married Mrs. M. A. 
Thomas in Kentucky; died about 1900. He was a wealthy 
farmer of Shelby Co., Mo., a man of character and standing in 
his county. 

Children : 

1. Sophia. 

2. Thomas J., born 29, 1863; married June II, 1884, 

Shelbyville, Mo. 

3. Jesse , State of Washington. 

4. Anna M., married T. Mitchell. 

5. William E., died March 4, 1905. He was struck by a 

railroad train and killed ; left a wife and one child. 

6. Martha, married Dr. Carter. 

7. Hugh. 



100. WILLIAM H. GENTRY, Brookville, Kan. 

(41) James V, James IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky Jan. 27, 1826; moved to Arkansas with his 
father's family in 1841. He enlisted for the Mexican War in 
1846 and served one year. He went to California in 1849, an d 
remained two years, and returned to Texas in 185 1, where he 
lived for a number of years. He finally settled in Brookville, 
Kan., about thirty years ago, where he was still living in 1906. 
He was in the cattle and ranch business for many years. He 
is a man of fine character, has held many positions of honor and 
trust, and has held the confidence and respect of all who have 
known him. He married first. N. M. Hays in Texas, and she 
died in 1859; married second, N. A. Stribling. 

Children, by first marriage: 
1. Wm. A., born Sept. 4, 1849; ne resides at Rockdale, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I4I 

Texas; married Kate Stribling, Nov. 5, 1879, and had 
Ruth, Bruce S., M. C, and Fanny. 

2. Mattie, married a Mr. Hutchins. 

Children, by second marriage: 

3. George J., born Jan. 22, 1861. 

4. J. Henry, born Sept. 30, 1862. 

5. Bruce S., born Sept. 27, 1864. 



101. DAVID T. GENTRY, Kansas City, Mo. 

(47) Pleasant T. V, Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Nov. 24, 1852. He grew up on 
his father's farm, working in summer and going to school in 
winter, until he was prepared to enter college. He was gradu- 
ated from Mount Pleasant College in June, 1874. Since that 
time until quite recently he has been a teacher and superintend- 
ent of schools. Married Mary E. Eubank of Clark Co., Mo., 
June 26, 1876. 

Children : 

1. Gertrude. 

2. James H. 

3. Minnie. 

4. John Tilman. 



102. FLAVEL B. GENTRY, Los Angeles, Cal. 

(47) Pleasant T. V, Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

He was reared at Sturgeon, Mo. He spent a number of years 
at Mexico in the real estate, loan and abstract business. About 
1903 he moved with his family to Los Angeles, Cal., and has a 
position with one of its banks. 



103. MADISON K. GENTRY, Kansas City, Mo. 

(50) Nelson B. V, Benajah IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

He was reared on a farm near Bunceton, Cooper Co., Mo. 



I42 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

In 1897 he came to Kansas City and engaged in the grain busi- 
ness. He is unmarried. 



104. ROBERT A. GENTRY, Nucas, Okla. 

(51) William V, Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born March 27, 1840. He enlisted in the Federal Army in 
the 7th Indiana Regiment of Volunteers and served through 
the whole Civil War. He took part in about twenty of the 
great battles of the Civil War. He married Aug. 17, 1865, Mar- 
garet Armstrong and lived on a farm in Ottawa Co., Kan., from 
1870 to 1899. Since then he has lived at Nucas, Okla. 

Children : 

1. Jennie B., born July 13, 1866. 

2. James Claybourn, born Feb. 23, 1872. 

3. Wilson, born Oct. 2, 1875. 



105. JOHN H. GENTRY, Minneapolis, Kan. 

(51) William V, Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Decatur Co., Ind. He came to Ottawa Co., Kan., in 
1869, and settled on a farm in the Solomon Valley. He mar- 
ried Clara Krepper, a native of Persia, Feb. 20, 1870, and has 
reared a large and interesting family and educated them well. 
He has lived for a number of years in Minneapolis, Kan. ; owns 
a grain elevator, and deals in grain, coal and live stock. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth, born Jan. 26, 1871. Music teacher. 

2. Nannie K., born Sept. 11, 1872. School teacher. 

3. Mary Alice, born March 15, 1875. School teacher. 

4. Nora B., born April 5, 1878. Teacher in High School, 

Kansas City. 

5. Viola M., born Dec. 13, 1881. 

6. Robert E., born July 20, 1884. 

7. Roy Erwin, born May 13, 1887. Entered the Naval 

Academy at Annapolis as a midshipman in 1908. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 



143 



8. Eda M., born Aug. 24, 1889. 

9. Lawrence J., born Oct. 16, 1892. 



106. GEORGE C. GENTRY, 



Enfield, 111. 



(S3) Dabney V, Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Virginia Jan. 9, 1835 ; married Sarah Draper, March 
19, 1857, and moved at once from Indiana to Illinois. He en- 
listed in the 29th Illinois Regiment of Volunteers Sept. 12, 1861. 
Was promoted to First Lieutenant April 15, 1862. He was en- 
gaged in many of the large battles of the Civil War, including 
Ft. Donaldson and Corinth. His regiment was re-enlisted as 
veterans July 19, 1864, and served until the close of the war. 
He was promoted to Captain, June 20, 1865. He lives at Enfield, 
White Co., 111. 

Children : 
I. Julia Elizabeth, married Oct. 1, 1889, A. H. Kensell, a 
merchant of Eldorado, 111. 
William C, railroad agent at Shawneetown, 111. 
Frances A., married Dec. 25, 1889, Albert Gordon, En- 
field, 111. 



2. 

3- 



107. SYLVESTER L. GENTRY, 



Cowley Co., Kan. 



(53) Dabney V, Claybourn IV, Moses III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born April 16, 1839, in Indiana; married Ella Parkhurst and 
lived in Illinois ; in 1879 moved to Cowley Co., Kan. He was a 
carpenter and builder. He joined the 87th Regiment of Illinois 
Volunteers, Sept. 22, 1862. 



Children : 
Mary A. 
George C. 

Eugene E., born Dec. 10, 1869. 
Ella L., born May 9, 1874. 
Eikel, born July 22, 1879. 
Cora D., born May 18, 1885. 



144 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

108. RICHARD GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(55) Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Sept. 9, 1807; died on his estate 
in Pettis Co., Mo., Jan. 17, 1865. He married first, Alzira 
Miller of Kentucky in 1836. She was a daughter of Wm. Miller 
and Hannah Lackey, and a granddaughter of Col. John Miller 
and Jane Dulaney, and great-granddaughter of Robert Miller 
and Ann Lynn. She died, and he married second, Mrs. Jael 
Hocker Gentry, about 1855, a daughter of Col. Nicholas Hocker 
of Kentucky, and the widow of his brother, Joel Gentry. He 
was about two years old when his parents came from Kentucky 
to the Boone's Lick Country, in the Louisiana Territory. Under- 
going the hardships of travel to a new country, and the rugged 
experiences of pioneer life, he yet had to undergo the dangers of 
Indian warfare and live in forts for about three years. Here 
he had the famous Kit Carson and his brothers as his playmates 
at Fort Hemstead, as well as the young Coopers, a little later, 
at Fort Cooper. These noted frontiersmen took their first les- 
sons in Indian warfare in this new settlement near old Franklin 
in Howard Co., Mo., then the most western white settlement. 
With this kind of an environment, on the very frontier of civili- 
zation, the boy Richard, notwithstanding the hardship and dan- 
ger, laid the foundation for the strong, successful' man he 
afterwards became. His association with such strong characters 
as those grand old pioneers, the first settlers in the Boone's Lick 
country, was of great benefit to him. He moved to what is now 
Pettis Co. with his father, while yet a boy, where he made his 
permanent home and remained the rest of his eventful and use- 
ful life. He was the eldest of his father's children and was 
early ambitious to do for himself. He secured a position from 
a wealthy uncle in Kentucky, who was in feeble health, and 
spent three years looking after his business, until his uncle's 
death. He then returned to Missouri and invested his savings 
in lands adjoining his father's farm. Desiring to see something 
more of the world, he accepted a position which enabled him to 
spend one winter in Boston and one winter in New Orleans, 
after which he returned home to Pettis Co. and continued to 
add to his lands. At his death he owned in one body nearly 
eight thousand acres of the most highly improved and well fenced 




Richard Gentry, of Pettis County Mo. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I45 

land in Missouri, and much valuable personal property. He 
was an extensive stock raiser, and dealt largely in fine sheep. 
He was a man of the greatest energy and worked incessantly. 
He was thoroughly alive to the growth and possibilities of the 
country. Although the details of his business affairs prevented 
him from taking public office, he was active in the councils of 
the leading men of the state in all matters of public interest. 
He was greatly interested in the agricultural fairs of the state, 
and especially of his county. He had a fair education, which 
he supplemented with much reading and study. He had a supe- 
rior intellect and a sound judgment. A fine organizer, he was 
recognized as one of the ablest men of the state, and he had the 
confidence and trust of all who knew him. He was a fine char- 
acter, had a pleasing manner, and was a good story teller, full 
of interesting reminiscences of the early times. 

The following letter from United States Senator George G. 
Vest to R. T. Gentry, replying to an invitation to the Gentry 
Family Reunion in Kentucky, is a sample of many in the writer's 
possession from prominent men, who extol the virtues of the old 
Gentrys of Missouri, and especially those of Richard Gentry and 
his brothers of Pettis Co., Mo. : 



U. S. Senate, Washington, D. C, June 23, 1898. 
My Dear Sir: 

I regret very much that circumstances prevent my accepting your kind 
invitation to attend the Gentry Reunion in August. It would give me great 
pleasure to attend and meet the surviving members of this old historic 
family, whose immediate ancestors I knew so well. They were typical 
pioneers, self-reliant, brave, honest, and natural leaders. 

Your uncle, Richard Gentry, of Pettis Co., Mo., was a remarkable 
man. He would have been a great general in war, as he was distin- 
guished for intellect, enterprise, and courage in the pursuits of peace. 

Your uncle, Reuben Gentry, of Boyle Co., Ky., was an ideal man and 
citizen. 

Your father was one of the best men I have ever known. He was 
just, kind, patriotic, and full of good works. 

In thinking of them, memory takes me back to the early days in Mis- 
souri, when such men blazed the pathway of civilization with ax and rifle, 
and left to their children civil and religious liberty. 

Very truly, 

G. G. Vest. 

R. T. Gentry, Sedalia, Mo. 



I46 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

The following interesting story of Richard Gentry and his 
brother William is told by the Hon. John R. Walker, formerly of 
Pettis Co., Mo. : 

"The Pettis Co. Fair was held at Georgetown, near Maj. Wm. Gen- 
try's fine country home. He was, I think, President of the Association. 
My father and his family, guests of Maj. Gentry, were attending 
the fair. He had taken a number of premiums on his cattle, horses, 
jacks, jennets and mules; each of my brothers had also taken premiums 
on some stock. I was then a small boy of ten years, the proud 
owner of a thoroughbred white Durham heifer, given me by my 
father, as an award for properly feeding some blooded calves. With this 
calf I had taken the premium in her class, as well as the sweepstake 
premium for cow, heifer or calf of any age. One day near the close of 
the fair, there was an exhibition of driving horses for gentlemen. My 
brother James was showing a roadster, when a man by the name of 
Douthitt drove a horse into the arena, and immediately on entering cried 
out, " My name is Walker, I am from Kentucky, own a hundred niggers 
and want a premium." This was meant, of course, as a reflection on 
the justness of the awards that had been made, and on the management 
of the Association. Instantly Maj. Wm. Gentry sprang at him, caught 
him by one of his legs and tried to drag him from his buggy, but this 
seemed impossible. Maj. Gentry being a large, strong man, could not 
understand, until he discovered that his brother Richard had Douthitt 
by the other leg, pulling him in the opposite direction. Between these 
two powerful and determined brothers, they nearly tore the poor fellow 
apart." 

Children, by first wife: 

1. William M. (160), born Sept. 19, 1837. 

2. Reuben Joel (161), born Jan. 12, 1839. 

3. Henry Clay, born Feb. 28, 1844. He was a schoolmate 

of the writer, at the famous Kemper School for boys 
at Boonville, Mo., in 1863; he was a fine scholar, 
and was a handsome and most promising young man. 
He died when about 22 years of age. The writer met 
his father, Richard Gentry, at Mr. Kemper's School 
and heard him tell many interesting stories of early 
times in Missouri, and especially of General Richard 
Gentry, but alas, he was too young to know the value 
of making a written record and they were soon for- 
gotten. 

4. Laura, born September, 1846; died unmarried. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I47 

Children, by second wife: 

5. Richard White (162). 

6. Mary Virginia, married Albert Woods Walburn. They 

lived first in Ft. Scott, Kansas, then in Chicago, and 
of late years in New York City. He was interested 
in the manufacture of sugar machinery and in a cot- 
ton compress business. They had : Gentry -C. and 
Nannie V. 

7. Nannie Elizabeth, born Aug. 31, 1863; married William 

Rodes Estill, a son of James Robert Estill of Howard 
Co., Mo. He was a promising young man with a 
good estate. He died at about 31 years of age. 

Children : 

a. Richard Gentry, b. Jan. 8, 1885. 

b. Mary V., b. March 31, 1886. 

c. James Robert, b. Sept. 18, 1888. 

d. Nannie H., b. March 12, 1893. 

When Richard Gentry came to Old Franklin with his parents 
in 1810, the country west of the Mississippi River was still the 
Louisiana Territory ; it was not organized as the Missouri 
Territory for two years later, and did not become the State of 
Missouri until August 10, 1821. The country abounded in game 
and wild beasts ; buffalo, elk and bear were plentiful and nu- 
merous tribes of Indians inhabited the country. In addition to 
the usual hardships and privations of pioneer life, the early set- 
tlers in the Boone's Lick country suffered from the consequences 
of a savage Indian war, which lasted for about three years, in- 
cited by the agents of the British government during the War 
of 181 2. Quite a number of prominent settlers were massacred 
by the Indians. They were compelled to build and live in forts 
to protect their property and their families. They cultivated 
their lands under guard of the sentinel and their supply of 
water was carried from the springs to the forts under the pro- 
tection of the rifle. Under these distressing circumstances farms 
were cleared and cultivated, houses were built and the popula- 
tion increased. A treaty of peace was made by the government 
with the Indians in 181 5 and there was no more need for forts; 
but the remains of old Forts Cooper, Hemstead and Kinkaid 



I48 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

reminded the new-comers for several years of the perilous times 
the early settlers had experienced. In 1816, the Boone's Lick 
country was organized into Howard Co., which included 31 of 
the present counties of central Missouri. In the same yeai 
Franklin was organized, became the county seat of this large 
county, and remained so until 1823, when Fayette was made the 
county seat of Howard Co. 

Franklin became populous and thrifty, was the center of 
wealth and fashion, as well as of political interest and influence 
in the Missouri Territory. It was the most important town west 
of St. Louis and acquired great commercial importance during 
the early days of the Santa Fe trade. The government land 
office was located there which made it the central point of all 
emigration. Col. William F. Switzler in his " History of Mis- 
souri," mentions among the more prominent inhabitants the fol- 
lowing-: "Hamilton R. Gamble, Abiel Leonard, Lilburn W. 
Boggs, Nicholas S. Burkhart, Benj. H. Reeves, C. F. Jackson, 
Charles Carroll, T. A. Smith, Drs. Jas. H. Benson, G. C. Hart, 
N. Hutchison, John T. Lowery, Ben. Holladay, A. J. Wil- 
liams, Richard Gentry, David Todd, W. V. Rector, Giles M. 
Samuels, Moss Prewitt, and many others whose names are his- 
toric, and who, although dead, yet speak in the annals of the 
state." 

The first steamboat, the Independence, that ever entered the 
Missouri River, arrived at Franklin on its westward trip on May 
28, 1819, and was the occasion of the greatest joy and the wild- 
est excitement. A popular meeting was held and a banquet was 
given, and numerous toasts were offered and speeches made. 
General Richard Gentry, a brother of Reuben Gentry, the pio- 
neer, was by this time a citizen of Franklin, and made a speech 
at the banquet on this joyful occasion. 

What a transformation had taken place in nine years ; a wil- 
derness overrun by savages and wild beasts transformed into a 
thriving city of culture and wealth, peace and happiness. Frank- 
lin has long since been washed away by the Missouri River. 

Some old letters from Richard Gentry of Pettis Co., Mo., to 
his brother, Reuben Gentry of Danville, Ky. : 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I49 

Pettis Co., Mo., Feb. 1, 1854. 
My dear brother Reuben: 

It has been a long time since I wrote you, too long I well know, for 
my feelings have been telling me so for some time. The disposition to 
procrastinate is so hard to overcome, and time passes so swiftly, that 
weeks, yea, even months roll round, before one has written to those he 
loves most. This is the first of February and past 8 o'clock at night. Al- 
zira and Laura are wrapped in the arms of Somnus ; Rubey and Henry 
by permission are attending a little debating society at their school-house, 
and Billy is at a boarding school in Boonville, where he has been since 
last October. I alone of all the family, after a busy day, have sat me 
down at this late hour to write to my brother. Although this is Feb. 1st, 
it is here almost as pleasant as May, and after a clear, beautiful, sunny 
day, with the bees flying out, and the birds warbling as though it were 
springtime, it is now a most lovely night, with the moon and stars shin- 
ing clear and bright and the south wind gently blowing, and when taken 
in connection with the condition of the ground and the roads, which are 
dry and smooth and dusty as in October, my heart is filled with admira- 
tion. Our autumn and winter, thus far, are certainly without parallel for 
pleasantness and beauty. 

Yesterday I had occasion to ride down north of brother Joel's place, 
and along a portion of the old road to Tuckapau ; I was alone and rode 
slowly, and although the old road in places is much overhung with bushes, 
there are portions of it still over which father and mother and brother 
Joel and Jack and you and I and brother Will and all of us have trav- 
eled so often together. It looked so natural and called up so many rec- 
ollections of days gone by, and little incidents that are passed and gone 
forever, that before I was aware of it, my feelings overcame me, and I 
cried like a child ; yes, there all alone, looking on the same old path, along 
which we all had often passed so joyously, and on the very stumps, some 
of which are still standing, that we had chopped together — I cried heart- 
ily; I cry now, and along with tears comes a feeling like suffocation. 
How much, dear brother, at such times I would give to see you I cannot 
tell. So much do even the very rocks and trees and stumps around 
the old homestead remind one of the past and of the loved ones that are 
gone. 

I had the pleasure of reading both your last letters to brother William, 
and we accept with pleasure your kind wishes to us all. We rejoice with 
you and sister Boone on the birth of your fine son and the improved 
health of your first little boy; may they grow and prosper both bodily 
and mentally so as to become the pride and prop of your declining years, 
should you live to be old. 

All our relations here are well. Brother Will has all his stone quar- 
ried and hauled for his new house. He has on hand a good lot of cattle 
and should present prices be maintained he will do well with them. 

I have been taking advantage of this dry season to clean out some ten 
of our ponds and to make four additional ones. We have now 21 in all. 



150 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

The work on our ponds took three hands and from three to four yoke 
of cattle some six weeks. We have shedded and planked all around the 
stables and cribs at the Billy Furguson place, which are now 102 feet long 
by 32 wide, and are subdivided so as to accommodate four lots of sheep 
of 150 head each. We have also made several other good sheds in dif- 
ferent parts of the home farm, finished the carpenter's work on the Fur- 
guson house, and are now putting up a building and shed for a grist 
mill. I lately purchased all that part of the Judge Brown farm south 
of the Boonville road and east of Dusley's meadow — 230 acres at $7.00 
per acre. Have made and hauled out nearly ten thousand new rails, 
enough to repair all the old fence on this new purchase and enclose the 
balance of the purchase and all the prairie that lies between it and the 
Furguson place, and uniting the two together. All of which, when in- 
closed, added to what I had before will make us 1966 acres under fence, 
subdivided into 50 different lots and fields. This last purchase gives me 
all those fine water holes on the Elm fork of Cedar above the Billy 
Hogan spring, and several fine springs beside. 

Our sheep are doing uncommonly well this winter, and our French 
Marinos in particular. I believe I wrote you from Troy, N. Y., that I 
had bought in Vermont 7 head of that variety — 5 of them at $100 each. 
Our stock all looks well — we have plenty of corn, hay, oats and fodder, 
and to spare, this time, our crops of all kinds last season being abundant. 

As we are all fond of talking and writing about that which interests 
us most, if you will bear with me a little I will give you an account of 
our sales of farm products, &c, for the past year 1853, viz.: 

4375 lbs. wool at 4i£c, $1815.62; hides, &c, $10.97 $1826.59 

283^ bu. wheat @ 81c, $229.63; 160 h. old sheep, $240.. 46963 
66 bu. timothy seed @ $1,663, $110.25; clover 

@ 8, $200 310.00 

144 fat hogs, weight 49J77 lbs., @ $2.50 per 100 1229.42 

9 calves — 5 @ 20 and 4 @ 25 each 200.00 

1 pr. shoats, $10, and 2 boar shoats at $16 26.00 

30 bu. apples @ 50c, $15, and 300 gals, cider, $45 60.00 

80 cords wood hauled to Georgetown, $2.00 160.00 

1 log for wagon hubs to w. maker 1.50 

150 bu. turnips @ 25c, $37-5°, and 24 bu. corn, $6.00.. 43-5° 
60 lbs. tub washed wool @ 38c 22.80 



$4349.44 



Besides which I expect to have left over some 20 tons of hay, worth 
delivered in town $10 per ton — $200 — and 100 bu. more of apples at 50c. — 
$50, &c, making ourselves something like $4600.00 for the past year, 
which is perhaps better than we have ever done. You will perceive, too, 
that in all these items there is only one in which there had been any 
direct outlay of money, and that in the fat hogs, and I had bought about 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I5I 

$100 worth only. So you see our sales differ somewhat from those of a 
lot. of mules or cattle, where there was a large outlay at the start. 

The young man, Mr. Peck, that I brought with me from Vermont to 
assist me in the care and management of my sheep, is of great service to 
me. He's stout, healthy and willing, and knows all about his business; 
he costs me $225 per year. I also brought with me from N. Y. Mr. 
Millet, a young man who is a carpenter; he costs me $1.50 per day, and 
will probably be with me a year or more. 

It is now looked upon as certain that the Pacific Railroad will run 
through the center of our Co., and lands are advancing very fast. 

Your loving brother, 

Richard Gentry. 



Pettis Co., Mo., July 28, 1854. 
My kind and beloved Brother, Reuben: 

Your very affectionate letter of the 7th instant as also that of the 12th 
inclosing a check has been duly received. 

Oh ! my beloved brother, how much I thank you and sister Boone for 
your kind and unremitting attention to my poor little girl and her un- 
fortunate and departed mother. Your letters giving all the details and 
particulars of her attack, suffering and death, is fraught with the deepest 
interest to me and my little boys, although a mournful interest indeed; 
and although, my dear brother, you did, under the circumstances, all that 
could be done and all that I myself should have done had I been there, 
yet I can never cease to regret that she did not consent sooner to send 
for a physician, although the result might, in all human probability, have 
been the same ; yet it might possibly have been otherwise, and instead of 
being in the narrow confines of the grave, where she now reposes, I and 
my little boys would have been joyfully anticipating her arrival at home 
about this time. But, my dear brother, although we cannot help it, how 
little do these regrets avail. In a few short years we, too, must lie down 
in the cold arms of death. She has only preceded me a few years at 
most, and in proportion as such ties that bind us to this earth are sev- 
ered, our desire to meet them again in a better and happier world is 
increased. 

My little boys and myself are much rejoiced to hear that Laura is in 
such fine health. Poor dear little motherless thing, how glad we would 
all be to see her and hear her talk; how I could strain her to my bosom. 
You will please tell her that we are all well, and how much we all want 
to see her, both black and white — how Billy and Ruby and Henry and 
myself, as well as Susan, Winny, Merica, Alice, Jinnie, and how little 
Tom and all of them want to see her, and how often they all keep ask- 
ing me, when are you going to bring her home? Tell her how Winney's 
and Sallie's and Hannah's babies are growing, and what fine little fellows 
they are. Tell her also that we are taking good care of her pigeons and 
that they look very pretty and that all her little playthings, such as her 



152 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

little bedstead and bedding and cups and saucers and all her little things 
are safe and will be ready for her when she comes home some time in 
October. 

We are just getting through a large and heavy harvest, and through 
the most intense hot summer. We are now suffering with severe drouth. 
Brother Will and family are all well. He has near 100,000 brick made 
and much also towards his new house. 

Be pleased to write often and let us hear frequently from my little 
girl. Tell sister Boone I can never cease to love her, while I live, for her 
kind attentions to me and mine. Kiss her and the little boys and Laura 
for us all. Adieu, 

Richard Gentry. 

P. S. — I received from Jael, some time since, a kind, affectionate, sym- 
pathizing and sensible letter, mostly in reference to our bereavement. 
She mentioned that she and her children and her friends generally in 
Madison were well, and that she contemplated a visit to Lincoln and 
Boyle in two or three weeks, if she could get company. She expressed a 
lively wish to see Laura and entertained the hope that Laura had not 
forgotten her and her children, which I have no idea she has ; for, poor 
thing, no longer than the fatal morning that she and her poor dear mother 
took their leave of us, she told me that she was going to Kentucky to 
bring Aunt Jael and her children home with her to Missouri. Be pleased 
to give our kindest and most affectionate wishes to her and hers, and tell 
her to write often. Farewell, my beloved brother. May God strew your 
way with His choicest blessings. R. G. 



Pettis Co., Mo., Nov. 15, 1861. 
My dear brother: 

I am inclosing two receipts for costs paid by me, in a suit on a note 
in your court against Thomas J. Hudson. Please file these receipts so 
that they may be taxed up as costs against him. 

I am so much hurried just now I cannot write a satisfactory letter. 
We are all tolerably well. My own health, although experiencing many 
ups and downs since I wrote you, is upon the whole better. 

Truly, my dear brother, we have had for many months stirring and 
exciting times in our state ; yea, even in our own county and neighbor- 
hood — the marching and countermarching of armies, with all the pomp 
and circumstance of war in our very midst. Little did you and I ever 
think that we should live to witness such scenes as these. Of course 
you are aware that General Fremont, after so long a time, got an army 
of some 35 to 40 thousand men in motion, in pursuit of General Price 
and McCullock in the S. West portion of our State. It seems that upon 
reaching Springfield, a short time ago, it was ascertained that Price 
had not only moved off in the direction of Arkansas, keeping a goodly 
span between him and the Federal troops, but he had also laid waste 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 1 53 

the country, destroying with fire all the corn, hay and oats, burning all 
the prairies, farms, mills, &c, and it is said in some cases even private 
dwellings, rendering it next to impossible for an army to follow him. 
So that General Hunter, who a few days ago had superseded General 
Fremont in command of this military division, deemed it prudent to 
change the programme, retrace his steps to this place, Sedalia, the pres- 
ent terminus of the Pacific Railroad, with a considerable portion of his 
troops, while it is said a portion will remain in Springfield, a portion 
march in the direction of Rolla, while Lane will march in the direction 
of Kansas. 

Our Mr. Phillips, who tells us he often sees you, says you are still 
standing for the Union. Tell us how is Uncle Joseph and all his boys, 
and Cousin Peter and Uncle Blythe and Billy Harris, John Walker and 
Captain Tevis. We are told that all of the White boys are Seesech ; is 
it so? 

Write soon and tell us who of all our old friends are for the Union 
and who are not. Uncle Joshua Gentry and all his boys are all true for 
the Union, but it is said that Uncle Christy Gentry and all his boys and 
Cousin James Moore and Landy Gentry are Seesech. Brother Will and 
family are all well and to the last one are Union. Myself and wife and 
every child from greatest to least are Union all the time, and hope to 
live and die so. 

Our crops of every description are most abundant but prices are low. 
Will and I sold our cattle off the grass at 2*c. My average for 3 and 4 
year olds was 1587 lbs. off the grass in August. Remember us kindly to 
all relatives, and in the very kindest manner to Sister Boone and your 
little boys. Your affectionate brother, 

Richard Gentry. 



Georgetown, Mo., March 27, 1863. 
My beloved and affectionate brother: 

Your very kind, affectionate, but to us distressing letter by Mr. Sneed 
was received some time ago. I feel utterly inadequate to the task of 
giving utterance to my feelings and sympathies in behalf of you and 
sister and all the family and friends. Oh ! when even at this distance 
of time and place I try to realize the scenes, trials and heart-rendings 
that you have all witnessed and have to bear, my heart aches to the core 
for you. 

Oh ! how we all sincerely sympathize and feel for you, under so severe 
afflictions, trials so great and bereavements so irreparable. 

Your letter, I need hardly say, has been read again and again to all 
my family that are at home, Ruby and Henry being absent, the former 
in the army and the latter at school in Boonville ; also to Billy and 
brother and family and Sister Jane and family, all of whom manifest 
for you and Sister Boone and all, the deepest and most heartfelt sym- 
pathy. And how much we all wish that we could see and be with and 



154 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

comfort you all under afflictions so sad and bereavements so distressing. 
No one but a fond parent who has had the trial can begin to realize or 
enter into the feelings of those who, like yourself and sister, have had 
for the last time to look on the sweet and lovely features of a kind, 
gentle, affectionate and noble boy, like your sweet and lovely little Jody. 
Oh! how sad this is, and what an aching void does it not create? But, 
dear brother and sister, remember there is another life — 'tis there he has 
gone to await you, and there, I trust in God, you all will on day meet 

again 

We are all rejoiced to learn that so far you have suffered so little 
from the war, but we cannot cease to feel much solicitude for you and 
all our friends in Kentucky, when we read reports almost constantly 
that other and still more extensive raids or invasions of your beautiful 
state are threatened by the Rebels. We are all in tolerable health, and so 
far have yet met with no great loss or misfortune from the war, except 
the death of Brother Daniel Ramey by Bushwhackers, in November last. 
Since which our sister and family are living at our father's old place, 
where I am trying to provide for and take care of them. Sister begins 
to show age and is often complaining. Her family consists of two single 
daughters, Mary and Analyza, neither very healthy, and a negro boy, 
Riley, son of Harriet. Richard, her youngest boy and a good boy, is 
somewhere on the plains, as teamster or assistant wagon master, and 
has never been home since his father's death. My son William, who got 
out of the militia by furnishing a substitute, is well and at home on 
his farm, doing very well. Ruby is with his Regiment, 7th Cavalry Mo. 
State Vol. Militia, commanded by Col. John F. Philips, who was edu- 
cated in Danville and married Miss Batterton. The Regiment is now and 
has been since Aug. last, in the southwest part of this state. Henry is 
now 19, almost a man, and is still at Mr. Kemper's school at Boonville. 
What interruption my boys may meet with by the late conscript act I 
know not but hope for the best. 

I agree with you decidedly in regard to the removals of McClellan 
and Buell, the President's emancipation proclamation and the radical 
measures of our late radical Congress, and I may also add of our radi- 
cal Mo. State Legislature, which you may have noticed have spent a 
great portion of the session in trying to get up some scheme of emanci- 
pation in Mo. What they may do, as they have not yet adjourned, it 
would be hard to tell. For they, like our radical Congress, spend the 
greater part of their time, as well as the money of the country, in legis- 
lating for the negro. When or how this unholy and unnatural war will 
cease God only knows. 

It really seems to me, that surely, if the most ultra fire-eater at the 
South or the most radical Abolitionist at the North could in the begin- 
ning have had even a peep at the loss of life, the bloodshed and the suf- 
fering and misery, to say nothing of the loss and destruction and ex- 
penditure of millions upon millions of property and money, occasioned by 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 155 

this dreadful war, he would have started back horror stricken at the 
sight. . . . Remember us kindly to all your family. Adieu my dear 
brother. 

Richard Gentry. 



109. JOEL WHITE GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(55) Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Cooper's bottom, in Howard Co., Mo., March 15, 
1815 ; died Oct. 4, 1851, in Pettis Co., Mo. He married Jael W. 
Hocker of Kentucky, daughter of Colonel Nicholas Hocker, a 
native of Virginia, about 1849, an d lived on his father's home 
place, which was improved in 1819. He and his brothers were 
the pioneer breeders of fine stock in Western Missouri, and their 
success made their names famous in this industry throughout 
the whole country. He was a man of fine character, eminently 
just and considerate of others, was of a very religious na- 
ture, and exerted a great influence for good in his community. 
After his death, his wife, Jael. married his brother Richard. 

Children : 

1. Nicholas Hocker (163). 

2. Eliza Jaella, married Singleton M. Morrison of Colum- 

bia, Mo. They soon moved to Denver, Col., and made 
it their home. He was a successful business man and 
accumulated considerable property. They lived some 
years in California while their sons were being edu- 
cated at the Leland Stanford University, and then 
returned to Denver. Mr. Morrison died about 1905. 
She is a woman of education and culture, a grad- 
uate of Christian College of Columbia, Mo. 





Children : 


a. 


Hattie, m. Elliot Stafford, Sedalia, Mo 


b. 


Frank 


c. 


William 


d. 


Harry 


e. 


Mary. 



I56 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

110. REUBEN GENTRY, of Danville, Ky. 

(55) Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Sept. 16, 1816, in the Boone's Lick Settlement near the 
old town of Franklin, in what is now Howard Co., Mo. ; died 
March 3, 1890, at his home in Danville, Ky. ; married June 13, 
1848, Mrs. William Woods, formerly Nancy Boone Gentry, his 
cousin, daughter of his uncle, Joseph Gentry. He went to work 
when he was 13 years of age in the lead mines at Joplin, Mo., 
where he displayed the industry and perseverance that charac- 
terized his after life. His school facilities were very meagre, 
yet by extensive travel and much reading, particularly on his- 
torical and political subjects, he acquired a broad and useful 
store of knowledge. At 16 years of age he joined a freighters' 
caravan, and engaged as a teamster for the trip from Independ- 
ence, Mo., to Santa Fe, then in Old Mexico. After two trips 
across the plains he engaged as a hunter and scout and general 
guide, on account of his knowledge of the trail, bravery and 
skill in plainscraft. His duties were mainly in advance of the 
wagon train, killing game, mainly buffalo, for supplies and find- 
ing the best creek and river crossings. He was often a day 
ahead of the train, alone in an Indian country. After a few 
trips he had grown older and saw the great possibilities for 
profit in the Santa Fe trade, and he induced Mr. John Lewis 
of Independence, Mo., to back him for a cargo of goods to be 
freighted to Santa Fe, valued at $50,000. Mr. Lewis was sat- 
isfied with young Gentry's ability and integrity and loaned and 
indorsed for him for this large amount, without security. He 
made a very successful trip and the money was paid back within 
twelve months, after leaving sufficient earnings to continue the 
business. He remained in the Mexican trade for 14 years until 
1848, and endured many hardships and had many narrow es- 
capes and rare experiences. If the stories he told could be faith- 
fully reproduced here they would read like romance: how his 
men caught the smallpox on the plains, and how he personally 
nursed them back to health without taking the disease ; how the 
Indians attacked him many times, but he escaped unhurt; how 
the more dangerous enemy, the bandits and robbers, who watched 
and waylaid the trail to rob the returning merchants of their gold 




Reuben Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 1 57 

and silver coin, the proceeds of their ventures in Mexico; how 
the breaking out of the Mexican war in 1847 found him with a 
train of goods in the enemy's country, subject to confiscation by 
either army ; how he was advised of his danger by his old friend 
and former partner, Dr. Waldo of Jackson Co., Mo., who was 
with General Doniphan; and how he escaped by turning aside 
into the enemy's country, and notwithstanding the Mexican hatred 
for Americans, his fearless bold nature and perfect knowledge 
of Mexican character, and his wonderful tact, enabled him not 
only to escape with his goods, but to sell them at a high price; 
and how he himself escaped from Zacatecas via Monterey to New 
Orleans with his money. 

He returned to Missouri in the fall of 1848 and gave up the 
Mexican trade, and at 31 years of age married and settled on 
a farm near Danville, Ky. 

In 1882, in company with his brother, William, he made his 
next trip to Santa Fe by railroad, as a pleasure trip ; saw much 
of the old trail, and revived many of his old experiences. He 
and his brother William, spent a day and a night at the home 
of the writer in Kansas City on their way to Santa Fe. 

At home he was an ideal citizen, loved by everyone who knew 
him ; gentle as a woman, yet brave almost to rashness when 
necessity required. He was an antagonist not to be despised in 
any contest, whether political or personal. He was an active 
and prominent member of the Methodist Church at Danville, 
Ky., and at all times a leader in its affairs. A beautiful memorial 
window in his church attests the love and veneration with which 
both he and his wife were held. 

He was a noble character, an intelligent, lovable Christian 
country gentleman. His wife died April 11, 1884. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth, born Jan. 26, 1850; died 1850. 

2. Joseph, born July 4, 1851 ; died Feb. 19, 1863. 

3. William Henry, born Sept. 11, 1853; died May 8, 1892. 

4. Reuben (164), born July 24, 1865. 

Some old letters from Reuben Gentry to his aunt, Mrs. Nancy 
Bush of Winchester, Ky., and to his cousin, Mrs. Nancy Boone 



I58 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Woods, a widow, daughter of Joseph Gentry, and who, after Reu- 
ben's return from Mexico, became his wife : 

Tampico, Mexico, Jan. 28, 1848 
My dear and affectionate Aunt: 

Much do I blame myself, for not having written you at an earlier 
date ; it is said that it is never too late to do good ; so at this late 
date I must try and redeem my promise given you at parting, which 
was to write you. My long silence has not arisen from a want of good 
feeling or gratitude, but from a consciousness of my own inability to ex- 
press my feelings of gratitude and gratefulness to you and yours for 
the kindness with which you treated brother Joel and myself, and 
the interest you manifested in our well being. My visit to you, though 
short, was one of the most pleasant of my life, and will ever be re- 
membered by me with pleasure. 

I have been at this place for some time, waiting a safe opportunity to 
go up to Zacatecas, which will offer in four or five days. I apprehend 
no difficulty whatever in passing up through the interior of Mexico, 
as the road by which I go is entirely free from all those Guerrilla 
parties, which have been so troublesome upon other roads. 

What stay I shall be compelled to make in this country is yet a matter 
of uncertainty, but it will be short; I think it more than probable, that 
I shall be able to return to the United States at latest by the 1st of May; if 
so it is my present intention to spend a good part of the summer in 
Kentucky, when I hope to be able to make amends for the short visit 
I paid you last fall. My kindest regards to all my cousins. Say to them, 
that the kindness with which they treated me, has made an impression 
upon my heart, that neither time nor distance can efface, and that they 
have under all circumstances my warmest thanks and best wishes for 
their happiness and prosperity. Adieu my dear Aunt; may the choicest 
blessings of heaven be yours is the prayer of your affectionate, 

Reuben Gentry. 
To Mrs. Nancy Bush, 

Winchester, N. Y. 



Monterey, Mexico, March 2nd, 1848. 
My dear Boone : 

I wrote you a few days before leaving Tampico, advising you of my 
intended departure for Zacatecas, which occurred a few days after writ- 
ing you. I had a safe and a rather pleasant time of it to Zacatecas; on 
arriving at that place, I found my friend Mr. Kufera had everything in 
readiness for us to leave the country at the first opportunity ; but I thought 
it prudent before doing so, to come out to this place, to see how the 
roads are, and also what arrangements I could make with the govern- 
ment officers here, in regard to getting our money out of the country. 
So I remained but three days in Zacatecas when I posted off to this 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 1 59 

place, with two servants, making the trip in five days, a distance of 
350 miles ; so you may imagine, I am pretty well used up. I have just 
called on General Wool, who offers me every assistance in his power, 
in the way of escorts etc., so the only difficulty will be in getting once 
clear of Zacatecas. I will leave this place in a few hours for Zacatecas, 
and if successful in getting out with my money, will reach New Orleans 
in the month of April, if not God only knows what will be the conse- 
quences. However, I will not allow myself to believe that there is a 
possibility of my failing in this my last adventure in this country. I 
say last for I really think that if once safely out of it that I shall never 
wish to return to it again. The inducement which I thought might offer 
for me to remain in the country, when I wrote you last, did not offer 
and I am glad of it. 

My dear Coz, if the want of anything tends to make one value it, 
when obtained, I certainly will know how to value peace and quiet 
when I have it, for they have been strangers to me for the last eight 
years. Excitement is pleasant enough, but the intense anxiety and un- 
certainty which have fallen to my lot in the last few years has been 
any thing but pleasant. I console myself at present by looking forward 
to the future when with you, dear Boone, for my companion, I shall 
be one of the happiest of men, and will feel that your sweet smiles are 
a rich reward for all the years of toil that I have had or may hereafter 
have. 

I may on my arrival at New Orleans find it necessary to proceed 
immediately to Philadelphia, if not I shall hasten to you at once ; in 
either case I will write immediately on my arrival in the United States. 
Let me beg you, my dear Boone, to write me immediately on receipt 
of this letter in care of H. C. Cornmach & Co., New Orleans. If you 
only knew how anxious I am to hear from you, you would not fail to 
drop me a line. My love to Uncle Joseph and Aunt and family, to Uncle 
Overton and family; in short to all friends. Adieu, dearest Boone, is 
the prayer of your devoted, 

Reuben Gentry. 
To Mrs. Nancy Boone Woods, 
Stanford, Ky. 



111. MAJOR WILLIAM GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(55) Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born near Boone's Lick in Howard Co., Mo., April 14, 1818; 
died on his estate in Pettis Co., Mo., May 22, 1890. In 1819 
his father moved with his family to what is now Pettis Co., Mo. 
He spent his boyhood and young manhood on his father's farm, 
and acquired what education he could at the neighborhood sub- 
scription school established by his father. In 1840 he married 



l6o THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Ann Redd, daughter of Lewis Redd Major, one of the early 
pioneers of the county. In 1846 he bought and settled on a 
farm about three miles northwest of Sedalia, Mo., which he 
called " Oak Dale," where he lived continuously for fifty-four 
years, until the time of his death. His first wife, Ann Redd 
Major, died Aug. 11, 1873, and in December, 1874, he married 
her sister, Mrs. Evelyn Witcher, who died Jan. 4, 1905. 

" Major Gentry was elected County Court Judge of Pettis Co., first 
in 1856 and served for 20 years continuously, when he resigned. In 
1881 he was appointed Presiding Judge of Pettis Co., by Governor 
Crittenden and served in that capacity until his death. For many years 
he was president of the Agricultural Fair Association of his County. 
In 1875 he was appointed by Governor Hardin as one of the Missouri 
State Managers for the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1879; 
Governor John S. Phelps appointed him a delegate to a Convention called 
in New York City to form a National Agricultural Society. Governor 
Marmaduke appointed him a member of the State Board of Health and 
he was made its President. 

He was a strong Union man from the beginning of the Civil War al- 
though he was a slave owner and many of his relatives were slave 
owners and Southerners. In 1862 Governor Gamble commissioned him 
major of the 40th regiment of Missouri Enrolled Militia, in which he 
served until its disbandment. He was afterwards appointed major 
of the 5th Provisional Regiment of Missouri Militia and served as 
such until peace was restored. 

Major Gentry was active in promoting large business enterprises; in 
1870 he was a director of the Lexington and St. Louis Railway, and 
was afterwards made its president ; he was also a director in the Missouri 
Kansas and Texas R. R., and was President of the Sedalia, Warsaw and 
Southern Railway. 

Originally a Whig, he became a Democrat and although he had no time 
or disposition for political preferment, he was induced to run for 
Governor of Missouri as the nominee of the People's or Independent 
party in 1873. 

He was a man of fine physique, six feet tall and well propor- 
tioned, with broad shoulders, a firm tread and a commanding 
appearance; he stood erect even in his last days. His pleasant 
manner, kind heart, and noble purpose gained for him the affec- 
tionate regard of everyone who knew him ; his home was ever a 
refuge for the unfortunate and distressed; his tender-hearted 
sympathy required no personal appeal when sickness or death 




Major William Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS l6l 

afflicted, and he was ever ready to contribute of his means and 
personal services. 

Tribute to Major William Gentry by Mr. Geo. C. Smith, for- 
merly General Manager of the Missouri Pacific Railroad: 

" Major William Gentry of Sedalia, Missouri, known to me only 
during the last ten years of his life, was a character commanding the 
respect, admiration and love of all who were brought into association 
with him. 

" He seemed to be like some great character of early English history 
or of Scottish border tales, reborn in the Nineteenth Century, and 
reigning over his broad estate after the manner of those rugged ancestors 
in distant centuries, but mellowed by the processes of high civilization 
into the true country gentleman. 

" Large of frame, rugged of countenance, stern of purpose and high 
of principles, yet withal, simple, sympathetic and kind, Major Gentry 
exacted the homage of all who knew him, solely through the dignity 
and force of his character. 

" Those who would converse with him must perforce look upward, 
for his stature was great, and his intellectual and mental greatness also 
surpassed that of ordinary men. 

" The rolling acres upon which he lived, dotted with tenant homes, 
green with great fields of corn, and yellow with waving wheat, alive 
with herds of cattle, and teeming with industry and thrift, seemed to be 
the appropriate environment of such a man. 

" But the field and the herd held only a part of his attention. In 
public affairs, whether those of his township, county or state, Major 
Gentry exhibited the same qualities of high manhood and leadership 
which he showed in business and social intercourse. Sound, practical, 
conservative and wise, are the words which best describe his public 
service. 

" He was the friend of all progressive enterprises which created the 
development of the new West in such rapid measure. In city streets, 
in Banks, on Boards of Trade, in Railway offices, his was a familiar 
figure, in country garb, sometimes, but welcome, in all the inner sanc- 
tums of wealth and power. 

" His friendships were warm and lasting — his heart always true, his 
words ever kind. 

" He always referred to the writer of these lines as his " young 
friend." Out of casual intercourse there grew between us the warmest 
regard, and on my part a high admiration. Here let me lay my tribute 
to the memory of Major William Gentry, where those who love him 
may see it." 

George C. Smith. 
Atlanta, Ga., 

July 25, 1898. 



l62 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Tribute of Mrs. Theodore Shelton to her mother, Ann Redd, 
first wife of Major William Gentry: 

" She was the daughter of Lewis Redd Major, who lived at his 
country home " Sunny Side," in Pettis County, Missouri, three miles 
northwest of Georgetown. He was one of the most prominent and wealthy 
early settlers of Pettis County. He came from Frankfort, Kentucky, in 
1833, in company with Ann's grandfather, General David Thompson, 
and family, and General George R. Smith and family; all three of them 
settled near each other, and built handsome brick homes, which are in 
good repair to-day. They brought a large number of slaves with them 
from Kentucky. 

" Ann Redd Gentry was greatly beloved by all who knew her — her beau- 
tiful spirits of love, faith and duty brightened the lives of all who came 
under her influence. Her tender heart, and helping hand reached out in 
loving sympathy to every living creature ; the poor came for miles to 
receive the benefits of her generosity — the sick soldiers of the Civil War 
were nursed back to health in her home — strangers fleeing from the 
dangers of war, were given shelter and protection, — no appeal for help 
was ever refused. 

" Her beautiful Christian faith, her steadfast devotion to all that was 
noble, pure and good — the honor and deference she always paid her 
husband — and the tender affection she gave her children, made her truly 
beloved. Her grandfather, John Major, who married Elizabeth Redd, of 
Virginia, was a soldier of the Revolution. She inherited from her father 
800 acres of land, which was a part of " Oak Dale " farm, and on which 
the beautiful old brick home of Major Gentry was built, in which she 
and her husband lived for over half a century." 

Children : 

1. Lewis Redd Major, born Sept. 27, 1842; died March, 

1844. 

2. Mary Elvira, born April 12, 1844; died Aug. 19, 1886; 

married Abijah Hughes, son of Col. Reese Hughes 
and Sarah Ann Burch, his wife, Mr. Hughes died in 
1873, and in 1875 she married Thomas W. Cloney, 
son of Thomas Cloney, a native of Ireland. 

Children : 
a. William, born, May 26, 1870, son of Abijah Hughes. He 
was reared by his step-father and was always known as 
Will Cloney, and on account of his love for his step- 
father and his half-brother, when he became grown, he 
had his name changed to William Hughes Cloney. He 
received a good business education and is a successful 




Home of Major William Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 1 63 

business man of Sedalia, Missouri. He married Caro- 
line Hinsdale, June 18, 1894, and has two children : 
Wm. Hughes Cloney, Jr., b. Mch. 16, 1898; and Thomas 
Warren Cloney, b. April 11, 1902. 
b. Thomas Warren Cloney, b. June, 1876 ; he was graduated 
from Princeton University in N. J., about 1898, and is 
in business with the " American Cereal Co., in Chicago. 

3. Bettie, born Dec. 25, 1846; died 1854. 

4. Jane Redd, born May 28, 1848, at " Oak Dale" ; mar- 

ried Theodore Shelton of St. Louis, Feb. 20, 1868, a 
son of Vardi Benson Shelton and Emily Connally. 
" Cousin Janie," as she is familiarly called by her many 
loving relatives, is much like her noble father in dis- 
position and character. She possesses good business 
ability as well as all the admirable and beautiful 
womanly virtues. She has been like a mother to her 
brothers and sisters since her mother's death ; ever 
ready with tender love and sympathy, as well as ma- 
terial aid and assistance, in every time of need. She 
is very proud of her Gentry name, and has been much 
interested in its history and genealogy. She was very 
prominent in organizing the " Gentry Family Reun- 
ions," and has been greatly interested in collecting 
family historical data. She is a member of several 
of the patriotic societies of the country through her 
Colonial and Revolutionary sires. She owns a fine 
home on Lindell Boulevard, No. 4467, in St. Louis, Mo., 
and she also owns a large landed estate in Pettis Co., 
Mo., including the famous " Oak Dale " farm, on which 
her father lived. Her husband, Mr. Theodore Shel- 
ton, is a man of fine character, ability and high stand- 
ing in St. Louis, where he has been engaged for many 
years in the wholesale hat business, and has been very 
successful. He is now a member of the " White, 
Branch, Shelton Hat Co." 

Children : 
a. Richard Theodore, b. July 7, 1871, in Pettis Co. Mo. He 
was graduated from Princeton University in 1893, and 
has ever since been connected with his father in the 



164 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

hat business. He married Allouise Douglas of St. 
Louis, April 26, 1899. He is a young man splendidly 
endowed physically and mentally; well educated and 
cultured, with good habits and high ideals and possesses 
an ample fortune. They had: Caroline, b. Feb. 8, 1901. 
b. William Gentry; b. April 15, 1873, m. 1st, Lillian O. Hill, 
May 30, 1894; m. second, Lillian Stratton Cobb, 
Oct. 1, 1901, of San Jose, California. He was educated 
at Lawrenceville and at Princeton. After remaining in 
his father's hat business for some years, he invented 
some electrical appliances, and started a factory for 
their manufacture which has proved very successful 
indeed. He is President of the Shelton Electric Co., 
of Chicago. His children are : William Gentry Shel- 
ton, Jr., b. May 6, 1895; Harry Hill Shelton, b. Aug. 
10, 1896. 

5. Richard Thompson (165), born Sept. 11, 1850. 

6. Alzira Boone, born Nov. 11, 1852; died Aug. 19, 1886; 

married Jan. 18, 1876, James Madison Offield. 

Children : 

a. Gentry, b. July 27, 1877; d. Nov. 19, 1902. 

b. James Madison, b. March 8, 1880. 

7. Joel Blythe, born April 8, 1855 ; died Jan. 25, 1886. He 

attended the " Kemper school " at Boonville, Mo., for 
several years, and then took charge of his father's 
" Locust Grove " farm, and gave promise of good 
ability as a business man and fine stock breeder. He 
had a fine herd of short-horn cattle and some famous 
horses. He was large of stature and more like his 
father than any of his sons. Alas ! his life was cut 
short at 31 years of age. 

8. Bettie Smith, born Sept. 25, 1857; married John R. 

Skinner, June 17, 1883. He died some years ago, 
and she resides on her estate, " Locust Grove," in 
Pettis Co., Mo., left her by her father. 

Children : 

a. Ann Gentry, b. Nov. 17, 1884. 

b. John Reuben, b. Mch. 24, 1886, d. Sept. 21, 1895. 
c. Harry Duke, b. Apr. 2, 1887. 




Mrs. Jane Gentry Shelton 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 165 

9. John Reuben (166), b. Jan. 20, 1861. 
10. Evelyn, born Feb. 20, 1863; married Feb. 8, 1888, 
Henry Buford Duke of Kansas City, Mo., who for 
many years was a member of the firm of Buford, 
George & Co., a wholesale implement house of Kansas 
City, Mo. He is a man of sterling worth and char- 
acter, and having been very successful in business, has 
retired from active work. 



112. SIDNEY M. GENTRY, of Boone Co., Mo. 

(56) David V. Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Boone Co., Mo., about 1824; died in Piatt Co., Mo., 
May 7, 1850. He and his brothers, James and Benjamin, were 
on their way to California, when he was taken sick and stopped 
at the home of his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Maupin, in Piatt Co., 
where he died. His wife, Margaret Robinson, died soon after, 
leaving a small child. 

Child: 
1. Bertie, born August, 1849. She was raised by her 
grandmother Robinson, and she married Jerry Bush 
of Centralia, Mo., March 7, 1869. 

Children : 

a. Morgan; b. Dec, 1869. 

b. Nadine, b. Aug. 31, 1879. ) . 

c. Atchison, b. Aug. 31, 1879. 



113. BENJAMIN B. GENTRY, of Ray Co., Mo. 

(56) David V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Boone Co., Mo., March 20, 1828 ; died Dec. 4, 1888. 
He was the youngest of nine children. He settled in Ray Co. 
in 1850. The same year he traveled overland to California, 
being four months en route. Two of his brothers started with 
him, James and Sidney; the latter died in Piatt Co., Mo. He 
spent about 18 months mining in California ; was reasonably 



1 66 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

successful, and returned home via the Isthmus. He first bought 
250 acres of land in Grape Grove Township in Ray Co., which 
he sold in 1870. He gradually accumulated a landed estate of 
960 acres on which he lived in 1888. He was a large raiser 
and feeder of stock, a good business man, well and favorably 
known and respected in his county. 

He married first, Miss Narcissa Wallard, who died in 1858, 
leaving four children. He married second, Sarah McKinzie, in 
1859, and she had nine children. 



Children 



Adelina A. 
Benjamin M. 
James A. 
Alice B. 
Jefferson D. 
John S. 
William E. 
Charles N. 
Effie M. 



114. RICHARD HARRISON GENTRY, of Columbia, Mo. 

(57) Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Oct. 15. 1812; died in Columbia, 
Mo., Feb. 6, 1871. He was born while his father was serving 
his country as one of the Kentucky Volunteers sent to the as- 
sistance of General W. H. Harrison on Lake Erie, near De- 
troit, in his campaign against the British and Indians in the 
War of 1812. He came from Kentucky to Missouri as a child 
with his parents in 1816, and grew to manhood in Boone Co., 
and learned the business of a merchant, and went into business 
first for himself in Fayetteville, Ark. He sold out his business 
in Arkansas and returned home in time to join the regiment of 
Missouri Volunteers about to start for the Florida war in 1837, 
under the command of his father. 

He was made Sergeant Major of the regiment and was in 
the front rank at the decisive battle of Okeechobee Lake, fought 
on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 1837. He received a wound in the 




Richard Harrison Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 167 

wrist about the same time his father received a mortal wound, 
and indeed it was thought that the same ball which penetrated 
General Gentry lodged in his son's wrist. The writer has safely 
preserved the large lead ball, from an Indian smooth-bore rifle, 
which was cut from his father's arm. 

He returned home with his regiment, was honorably dis- 
charged and entered into the hotel business with his mother in 
Columbia, Mo., and continued in it until about the time of his 
marriage in 1843, when he bought a farm two miles east of 
Columbia. In 1856 he sold his lands in Boone Co. and bought 
land four miles southeast of where Centralia now is, just over 
the line in Audrian Co., Mo. 

In 1863, the vicissitudes of the Civil War were such that 
property in the country was very unsafe and his negro slaves 
having been set free he decided to trade his farm for property in 
the town of Columbia, and move his family to town, which he 
did, and again commenced merchandising. 

This was a fortunate move, for his seven children all had 
splendid school facilities, the Missouri State University being 
situated at Columbia. 

He married Mary Neil Wyatt, daughter of Captain John 
Wyatt of Warren Co., Mo., December 14, 1843. She was born 
March 7, 1826, and died June II, 1887. She and her sister 
Harriet attended school at Miss Lucy Wales' Academy in Co- 
lumbia, and lived with their aunt Margaret, Mrs. Frederick A. 
Hamilton, who owned and lived in the house just north and 
adjoining the present Wabash Depot in Columbia. Mrs. Ham- 
ilton was a daughter of Major Benjamin Sharp and her hus- 
band was publisher of the Columbia Patriot, of which Major 
James S. Rollins was editor. 

Miss Wales' school afforded rare opportunities for the times 
and Mary Wyatt improved them well. Here the writer's father 
became acquainted with her, and two years later made a trip to 
Warren Co.; married her at the tender age of 17, and they 
at once came on horseback to his farm, two miles east of Co- 
lumbia, and commenced housekeeping. 

She was a most devoted Christian, self-sacrificing wife and 
mother. With the religious zeal of the old school Presbyterian 
of that day, to which denomination they both belonged, she or 



l68 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

her husband conducted family prayers night and morning 
throughout their married lives at which the whole family were 
required to be present. In spite of the loss of property and 
slaves consequent upon the Civil War, and the death of her 
husband, she educated all of her children, most of whom were 
college graduates, and lived to see them all well and comfort- 
ably settled in their own homes. 

Children : 

1. Richard (167), born Nov. 11, 1846. 

2. Attossa, born near Columbia, Mo., Sept. 9, 1849. She 

has taught in the public schools of Kansas City for 
over twenty years and still continues her work. 

3. Eliza, born near Columbia, Mo., Sept. 22, 1852 ; was 

graduated from the Missouri University in 1871 and 
at once accepted a position as a teacher in the public 
schools of Kansas City, which position she continued 
to fill until 1884. She married Charles A. Young 
of Kansas City, Mo., formerly of Philadelphia, June 
18, 1884. She is a woman of refinement and culture 
and a charming hostess. He is a gentleman of educa- 
tion and culture, much interested in municipal affairs; 
an elder in the Presbyterian Church. 

Children : 
0. Harriet Addams, born April 29, 1886. 
b. Nathan, born Oct. 30, 1888; a Yale College student of the 
class of 1910. 

4. Sarah Jane, born in Audrian Co., Mo., April 25, 1855; 

received her early schooling at a country log school 
house. In 1864 her parents moved to Columbia, Mo., 
and in a few years she entered the Missouri State 
University and was graduated from that institution 
with honors in 1873. She taught in the ward and 
high schools of Kansas City for four years, when she 
married Dr. John W. Elston of Kansas City, and re- 
signed her position. Her husband died Oct. 12, 1900 
and she resumed her work as a teacher. She has had 
charge of a department of English in the Kansas City 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 169 

Manual Training High School since its organization in 
1897. She is a teacher of rare ability and great 
popularity. 

In 1893 she delivered the annual address to the 
Alumni Association of the Missouri State University 
at Commencement. The selection of a woman to de- 
liver the address for the occasion was considered a 
great honor. She received much praise for her splen- 
did address and its charming delivery. 

Her husband, Dr. John W. Elston, born Nov. n, 
1844, died Oct. 12, 1900. was a son of Robert P. 
Elston and Lydia Pace. He was a graduate of Belle- 
vue Hospital Medical College, New York City, in 
1 87 1. About this time he was admitted by examina- 
tion to the U. S. Navy as a medical officer, in which 
service he remained four years. During this time he 
was medical officer in charge of an expedition to sur- 
vey for an interoceanic ship canal by way of the San 
Juan River and Lake Nicaragua; was sole medical 
officer in charge of naval station at Mound City, 111., 
one winter, and later had charge of the medical de- 
partment of the United States steamer Tigress, which 
made an Arctic expedition in search of the wrecked 
crew of the Polaris, the steamer in which Dr. Francis 
Hall and his crew went in search of the North Pole. 

When Dr. Elston resigned from the Navy in 1874 
to locate in Kansas City, Mo., the medical department 
of the Navy, in accepting his resignation, granted 
him six months' leave of absence on full pay as a 
compliment for his efficient services. 

Dr. Elston was one of the incorporators of the Uni- 
versity Medical College of Kansas City, in which he 
filled the chair of materia medica, pharmacy and thera- 
peutics. For eight years he was Coroner of Jackson 
Co., Mo. 

Children : 

a. Bertha, born June 23, 1878 — an educated, cultured, and 
charming young lady; a teacher in The Manual Train- 
ing High School of Kansas City, Mo., having pursued 



170 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

her studies at the Universities of Ann Arbor, Missouri 
and Chicago. 
b. Robert Gentry, born Sept. II, 1880 — he learned merchandis- 
ing in Kansas City, and accepted a position in Bir- 
mingham, Ala., where on Sept. 16, 1895 he married 
Carrie Alice Bryan of Goldsboro, North Carolina; she 
died in 1907. They had one child Alice who died when 
only a few months old. 

c. John Wyatt, born, Dec. 10, 1884, died in 1885. 

d. Allan Vaughan, born July 28, 1887 — a young man of 

promise ; was graduated as a Civil Engineer from 
University of Missouri in 1909. 

e. Margaret, born Aug. 24, 1889. She is a student at Mis- 

souri University, in the class of 191 1. 

5. Mary, born in Audrian Co., Mo., Nov. 29, 1857; died 
May 15, 1903; married John G. Paxton of Independ- 
ence, Mo., Sept. 9, 1885. He is a son of Brigadier 
General Elisha Franklin Paxton of Virginia, one of 
General Stonewall Jackson's generals, who was killed 
in the battle of Chancellorsville. Mr. Paxton is one 
of the prominent lawyers of Jackson Co., Mo., a man 
of fine character, of high standards and lofty purpose ; 
a good husband, an indulgent father, and a fine citizen. 
She was a woman of a superior mind ; well edu- 
cated ; a graduate of the Missouri University ; thor- 
oughly well read and thoughtful, of a deeply reli- 
gious nature, yet of independent thought, broad and 
liberal in her opinions, interesting in conversation, 
poetic in thought and expression; a good, loving 
wife, and an affectionate, devoted mother and sister. 
She had a long illness, and welcomed death's mes- 
senger with gladness. Below is one of her little poems 
on the death of a friend, in which she expresses her 
own feelings: 

*" This morn I heard that one I loved is dead. 
The house is still, her friends in whispers speak, 
Move here and there, sad-faced, with tear-stained cheek. 
I sat beside her, watching there a space, 
And thought, is't death, this change from strife to rest? 




Mrs. Mary Wyatt Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 171 

Would not her nearest friends say it is best, 
Beholding her, and so be comforted? 
Is dying to cease struggling to be free 
From pain and dread, from weakness, longings vain, 
To feel himself restored, once more to be 
Whole, rested, strong, without a sense of pain? 
Then hasten, Death, come thou to visit me ; 
Give to me rest and immortality." 

Children : 

a. Mary, b. June 2, 1886; is a student at Missouri University. 

b. Frank, b. June 10, 1887. 

c. Elizabeth, b. February 7, 1889. 

d. Mathew White, b. Jan. 10, 1891, is a student at Missouri 

University. 

e. Edward Nichols, b. March 13, 1893. 

6. Oliver Perry (168). 

7. Lucy W., born Dec. 4, 1864, in Columbia, Mo. ; was 

graduated from the Missouri State University June 
4, 1885; married June 24, 1886, Willoughby Cordell 
Tindall, Professor of Mathematics in the Missouri 
State University. He died Sept. 17, 1898. She mar- 
ried second, John Ankeny, Oct. 16, 1901, a Professor 
of Art in the same institution. She lives in her own 
comfortable home in Columbia, Mo. She, her hus- 
band and her little son, Richard Gentry Tindall, re- 
turned home August, 1903, from a year's trip abroad, 
where Mr. Ankeny devoted most of his time to the 
study of Art in Paris, and she and her son in learning 
the French language. 

Child, First Marriage: 
a. Richard Gentry Tindall, b. April 22, 1892. 

He was greatly interested in Military affairs and especially in the Navy 
from his childhood and prepared himself for a Naval career. He re- 
ceived an appointment as Midshipman to the Naval Academy at Annapolis 
from Senator Wm. J. Stone of Mo., and passed a high mental examina- 
tion June 26, 1908, but was rejected on account of a little near-sightedness, 
which was a great disappointment to his family. 

" His Tindall ancestors are as follows : 



I72 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

(1) Willoughby Cordell Tindall, his father, Professor of Mathematics 
at the Mo. State University; b. Feby. 28, 1855; d. Sept. 17, 1898. 

(2) James H. Tindall ; b. , near Clarksville, Montgomery Co., 

Tenn. He came with his father's family to Howard Co., Mo., about 1824. 
He married Aug. 12, 1841, Juliette Willoughby Orr, who was b. Feb. 20, 
1824, and died Feb. 28, 1855. They are both buried on the old Orr place 
in Howard Co., Mo., now owned by E. H. Chinn. He married 2nd a Mrs. 
Garr, daughter of Judge Adams of Boonville, Mo. and had one son 
Robert. 

Children, by first wife : 

1. Elizabeth Winifred, b. June 9, 1842. 

2. Obediah, b. Dec. 30, 1844. 

3. Fielding Wilhite, b. July 16, 1847. 

4. Judith Anne, b. Dec. 22, 1849. 

5. Patrick Orr, b. Feby. 22, 1852. 

6. Willoughby Cordell, b. Feb. 28, 1855. 

Juliette Willoughby Orr, wife of James H. Tindall, was a daughter of 
Patrick Orr (b. Sept. 13, 1874; d. Jan. 31, 1866) and Elizabeth Brecken- 
ridge (b. Jan. 25, 1789; d. Nov. 6. 1864). She was a daughter of John 
Breckenridge and Elizabeth Willoughby (b. Oct. 30, 1760) who were 
married Sept. 19, 1785. See " The Willoughby Chain." 

(3) Obedia Tindall, Jr., b. in Va., m- Winifred Horn, who lived 12 
miles east of Clarksville, Montgomery Co., Tenn. Her father Josiah 
Horn was a Baptist preacher and her mother was Elizabeth Hunter, 
whose family was from South Carolina and whose father Colonel Hunter 
served in the Revolution as colonel of a regiment. Obedia lived in Tenn., 
until about 1824 when he moved to Howard Co., Mo., and settled on a 
farm near Old Salt Creek Church, now Ashland, where he died. His 
children were: Thomas (b. Aug. 3, 1817) ; Josiah (b. Oct. II, 1819) ; 

James H., , Cordell, and William. The last two were born in Mo., 

and the first three in Tenn. 

(4) Obediah Tindall came from England to Va. when quite young. 
He was about 16 years old when Cornwallis surrendered. Two brothers 
came with him ; Noah, who lived and died in Ills., and James. His 
father probably came to this country also. Obediah settled near the line 
between Virginia and North Carolina. His grandson heard him talk of 
Halifax, Va., and of hauling tobacco to Lynchburg. He married Jemima 
Everett of N. C. They moved to Christian Co., Ky., and from there to 
Howard Co., Mo. He died about Jan. 1, 1852. He and his wife were 
both buried on a farm adjoining the old Switzler farm now owned by 
Simon Humfield. The total amount of his estate is shown by a settle- 
ment with the court to have been $18,538.79. He had two sons, James 
and Obediah, Jr., and three daughters." 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I73 



EXCURSUS— WYATT. 

Captain John Wyatt, son of Frank Wyatt, born in Mont- 
gomery Co., Ky., March n, 1788; died in Warrensburg, Mo., 
Feb. 16, 1865. He commanded a Company of Kentucky Volun- 
teers in Colonel Deshea's regiment in the War of 1812 and was 
stationed on the river Raisin in the Michigan territory. He 
came to Missouri in 1817, and settled in what is now Warren 
Co., at Pinckney, and married Attossa Pinckney Sharp, a daugh- 
ter of Major Benjamin Sharp, for whom the village of Pinckney 
was named. Captain Wyatt was a farmer and merchant, a 
successful man of affairs of the highest integrity and character. 
He was one of the first Judges of Montgomery Co., Mo., in 
1818, which included the territory afterwards cut off into War- 
ren Co. His wife died June 5, 1840. Captain Wyatt sold out 
his property in Warren Co., Mo., about 1858, moved to North- 
west Missouri and settled on Parson Creek in Linn Co., Mo., 
about 15 miles northwest of the county seat. Several of his 
daughters had married and settled in this part of the state. 

Children : 

1. Sarah H., born June 12, 1821 ; married May 26, 1843, 

Dr. Elex Hughes. They had a number of children. 

2. Catharine, born March 23, 1833 ; married Sinclair. 

3. Mary Neil, born March 7, 1826; married May 26, 1843, 

Richard Harrison Gentry of Columbia, Mo. 

4. Harriet, born Feb. 13, 1828; married Oct. 1, 1846, John 

Dunham. 

5. Margaret J., born Feb. 14, 1830; married James. 

6. John, Jr., born March 29, 1834; married Miss Menden- 

hall in 1861, and died in 1862. They had: 



174 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

a. John James Wyatt, b. in 1862; m. Mrs. Mathews, formerly 
Miss Binie Nutt, and lives in Los Angeles, Cal. He is 
engaged in mining. They have : 

(1) Henry Wolcut Wyatt, b. 1887. 

(2) Ethel Rice Wyatt, b. 1890. 

7. Lucy A., born Sept. 19, 1837; married Dr. John W. 
Trader. She died Feb. 12, 1865, and he died May 16, 
1907. They left no issue. Dr. Trader married again 
and reared a large family. 

The following reminiscent letter about Captain John Wyatt and his 
son John was written by his son-in-law, Dr. John W. Trader, of Sedalia, 
Mo., June 30, 1906: 

" During the gold excitement of 1849 John Wyatt got the California 
fever. There were quite a number of the neighbors fitting out for the 
overland trip to the gold fields and John, although only 15 years of age, 
induced his father to outfit him for the journey. A six yoke of ox-team 
was gotten up and two years of provision provided. They left the 
neighborhood in the early spring of 1850 and by the time they reached 
the plains of Kansas there was a vast train of several thousand. In 
time the parties arrived in California very much reduced in men and 
beast and their supplies were exhausted. After prospecting a while 
with very indifferent success, word reached the coast that vast inexhaust- 
ible mines of gold had been discovered in Australia. John wrote his 
father that he intended to start for these new fields of wealth. Nothing 
was heard from John for 10 or 12 years. Not finding the fortune he ex- 
pected in Australia, he took service on a trading vessel bound for the 
French coast. Rather liking the sailor's life, he continued in the service, 
and when the war broke out between the allied powers and Turkey 
he took charge of a supply ship owned by the French Government and 
remained in that service during the Crimean War. 

After the war, he continued in the ocean traffic and at one time brought 
a cargo to New Orleans. He intended to give up the business and return 
home but his employers prevailed on him to take a return cargo to France. 
He had accumulated quite a little fortune but after returning to France, he 
went into some kind of speculations and lost everything he had. He 
then determined to come home but he had to work his way home. 
His father Capt. John Wyatt had sold his farm in Warren Co., Mo., and 
bought a farm in Linn Co. Not finding his people in Warren Co., John 
started afoot to find them. He first arrived at his sister Harriet's. 
When they found out who he was, the family — his father and sis- 
ters were soon assembled, and he was received as the returned prodigal 
son. The Captain's joy was complete when he met his only and long 
absent son. Capt. Wyatt advanced his son $6,000 to go into business 
with but the business was not successful ; the Civil War was coming 
on, and John became an intense secessionist, while his father was a strong 

















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4 /-* 










9H| 


^^F^f 


^| 


?'{^5 


j&L-' v 























Captain John Wyatt 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 175 

Union man. John married a school teacher, Miss Mendenhall, in 1861, 
and he died in 1862, leaving one child, John Wyatt. Captain's daugh- 
ters and their families all went to Washington and Oregon about 1863, ex- 
cepting Mary Gentry and Lucy Trader. After this Capt. Wyatt lived with 
his daughter Lucy, wife of Dr. John W. Trader, who was an army 
surgeon. In Feb., 1865, an epidemic of erysipelas broke out among the 
soldiers encamped at Warrensburg, Mo., and Capt. Wyatt and his daugh- 
ter both caught the disease and died from it. They were buried side by 
side in the cemetery at Lexington, Mo., and a beautiful tablet marks their 
resting place." 

Dr. Trader adds : In all my acquaintances among men, I have never 
known one for whom I had greater respect, than for the late Captain 
John Wyatt. I revered him as my own father, and considered it a pleas- 
ure to do his will as far as possible." 



Frank Wyatt of Montgomery Co., Ky., father of Captain 
John Wyatt, was born in North Carolina about 1757 (his father 
was John Wyatt of that state). He was a Revolutionary sol- 
dier, and served seven years and eight months ; yet there is no 
record at Washington of his services. After the war he settled 
on a farm in Montgomery Co., Ky., and reared a family of 12 
children, most of whom settled in Warren and Montgomery 
Counties, Mo. 

Children : 

1. Douglass, settled in Montgomery Co., Mo., in 1817; 

married Elizabeth See and had: Hayden, Amanda, 
Emily, Frank, Joseph, Mary and Douglass, Jr., who 
died in 1907 at 90 years of age. 

2. Frank, settled in the State of Mississippi. 

3. Anthony, settled in Montgomery Co., Mo., in 1816; mar- 

ried Mary Smith and had: Henry S., James W., Jo- 
seph, Martha A., Nancy J. and Frank. 

4. Joseph, died a bachelor in Franklin Co., Mo. 

5. Captain John, came to Missouri in 1817. 

6. William. 

7. Hayden, settled in Missouri. 

8. Sally. 



176 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

9. Betsy. 

10. Nancy. 

11. Malinda. 

12. Polly. 



There was also a John Wyatt. who settled in Warren Co., Mo., 
at an early date. He was a Revolutionary soldier and drew a 
pension. After the war he settled first in Lincoln Co., Ky., and 
afterwards in Missouri. He was a first cousin of Frank Wyatt 
of Montgomery Co., Ky., father of Captain John Wyatt of Mis- 
souri, and his father's name was Frank Wyatt, a brother of 
John Wyatt, both of North Carolina. This Frank Wyatt of North 
Carolina, born about 1738, had the following children: John (the 
Revolutionary soldier), William, Frank, Jr., Ricks, Polly Eliza- 
beth and Sally. John, William and Ricks settled in Lincoln Co., 
Ky. John married Polly Pearl of Virginia, and moved to Mis- 
souri in 1817. He stated in his application for a pension, Nov. 15, 
1832, " that when he enlisted his residence was Chatham Co., 
N. C, and that he was born July, 1759, in Halifax Co., N. C, 
and that his residence was Montgomery Co., Mo." He had two 
sons and several daughters. His son Frank was a soldier in 
War of 1812, and died in Kentucky, and his son William S. left 



no issue.* 



THE VIRGINIA WYATTS 

The similarity in names of the Missouri family of Wyatts and 
the Virginia Wyatts indicates that they are of the same family. 
Below are some early Wyatt settlers of Virginia : 

1. Rev. Haute Wyatt, brother of Sir Francis Wyatt, 

Governor of Virginia in 162 1 and 1642, once lived in 
Virginia, and several of his sons settled in Gloucester 
Co. and have left a large number of descendants in this 
country. The old Wyatt estate was called " Boxley 
Hall " after the Wyatt estate in England.f 

2. Ralph Wyatt leased land on the Appomattox in 1636. 



* See Pioneer Families of Missouri. 
f Va. Hist. Mag., Vol. 2, p. 261. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS IJJ 

3. Richard Wyatt of York, patented lands in Glouces- 

ter Co. in 1645. 

4. Major William Wyatt, patented land in Gloucester 

in 1653. 

5. Anthony Wyatt stated in 1664 that he had been 

in the Colony of Virginia 40 years, and that he was 
born in 1604. He then came to Virginia in 1624.* 
He was a man of prominence and wealth, owned sev- 
eral large estates, including " Chaplin's Choice," in 
Prince George Co. He was a member of the " House 
of Burgesses " in 1645, 1653, and 1656. He had sev- 
eral sons and a number of grandsons, whose names 
were John, Nicholas, Anthony, Edward and Francis ; 
he also had a granddaughter, Susanna Wyatt, who 
married a Mr. Reeks, and they had a son, Nicholas 
Reeks.f 

The fact that Frank Wyatt of North Carolina had sons named 
John, William, Frank and Ricks, and that his brother, John, had 
a son, Frank, five of whose sons were named: Anthony, Joseph, 
John, William and Frank, together with the coincident of the 
names Reeks and Ricks, the difference being probably an error 
in spelling only, is strong evidence that this Missouri Wyatt 
family belongs to the Anthony Wyatt family of Virginia. 

The Hon. Lyon Tyler, in a long article on the Virginia Wyatts, 
in the William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 10, p. 260, states " That 
there is scarcely any doubt that these Missouri Wyatts are de- 
scendants of Anthony Wyatt of Virginia." 



THE WYATTS OF ENGLAND 

The pedigree of the Wyatt family of England runs back in 
an unbroken line of descent through first-born sons for 550 years 
to about the year 1350, and may be found prefixed to the works 
of Sir Thomas Wyatt, by G. F. Nott, London, 1816. 

1. Adam Wyatt of Southage. 



* Va. Hist. Mag., Vol. 2, p. 261. 

f William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 10, p. 59; also pages commencing 
with 260. 



I78 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

2. William Wyatt of Southage. 

3. Richard Wyatt of Southage. 

4. Geoffrey Wyatt of Southage. 

5. Richard Wyatt of Southage. 

6. Sir Henry Wyatt of Arlington Castle ; a prominent figure 

at the Court of Henry VIII from 1495 to 1509. He 
accompanied the King to the " Field of the Cloth of 
Gold." 

7. Sir Thomas Wyatt; the leader and acknowledged mas- 

ter of " The Company of Courtly Makers," and lead- 
ing poet, born 1503; knighted March 18, 1536, and 
became Lord High Sheriff of Kent in 1557. Was 
sent as Ambassador to Charles V of Spain in 1537. 

8. Sir Thomas Wyatt; beheaded in 1554 for leading the 

Duke of Suffolk's conspiracy, in what is known as 
" Wyatt's Rebellion," which caused the immediate ex- 
ecution of Lady Jane Grey. 

9. George Wyatt. 

10. Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor of Virginia in 1621, and 
again in 1642. (See Va. Hist. Mag., Vol. 3, p. 180.) 






NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I79 



EXCURSUS— SHARP. 

Benjamin Sharp, son of Thomas Sharp and great-grand- 
father of the author, was born in Lancaster Co., Pa., Jan 22, 
1762 and came to Washington Co., Va., while a mere lad. He 
had the most tragic experience as a young man from 1774 until 
1790, as a pioneer on the Indian frontier; encountered numer- 
ous Indian raids, took part in several Indian campaigns, and 
gained his chief honor by being a soldier of the Revolution at 
the battle of " King's Mountain." 

He married Hannah Fulkerson, a daughter of James Fulker- 
son of Washington Co., Va., in 1787, and removed in the fall 
of 1793 to " Powell's Valley," into what was afterwards made 
Lee Co., Va., where most of his children were born. 

Major Benjamin Sharp removed again in 1816 to what is now 
Warren Co., Mo., with all his children except John D. and Ma- 
linda, and made his permanent home three miles east of the 
town of Pinckney. When Montgomery Co. was organized in 
1818 he was appointed Clerk of the County and Circuit Courts 
and Recorder and held these offices until the state government 
was organized. A small log cabin was built in his yard and used 
as a court house until the county seat was located at Pinckney, 
which was named for his daughter, Attossa Pinckney Sharp. 
He died at his old homestead in 1843, a * the a & e °f 81 years; 
his wife died two years before him. Mr. Sharp was a man of a 
noble character, of rare intelligence and well educated for his 
opportunities. He was a great reader, very fond of history and 
poetry. He was very fond of reading aloud " Bobby " Burns 
in his old days. 

In 1842 and 1843, just before he died, Major Benj. Sharp 
contributed a number of articles to the American Pioneer, de- 
scribing some of the thrilling experiences which took place in 
southwest Virginia between 1774 and 1790, in which he took 
part or of which he had personal knowledge ; also an article 
describing as an eye-witness the battle of " King's Mountain." 
This American Pioneer was a monthly, published in 1842 and 
1843 an d afterwards bound in two volumes. It is now out of 



i8o 



THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



print but a few volumes may be found in some of the libraries. 
It is a most interesting and valuable work, made up largely of 
contributions from old Revolutionary soldiers. 

Children : 
i. James F., born Jan. 4, 1788; married Catharine Neil. 

2. Polly C, born Sept. 4, 1791 ; married Jerry H. Neil. 

3. John D., born Jan. 6, 1789; a prominent lawyer who 

remained in Virginia. 

4. Jacob L., born Sept. 12, 1793; married Harriet Vance. 

He was the first County and Circuit Court Clerk of 
Montgomery Co., Mo., after Missouri territory was 
made a state and succeeded himself for forty-six 
years. He died in 1869. His sons, Samuel T. and 
Benjamin, were very prominent men in Montgomery 
Co. 

5. Catharine E., born Aug. 25, 1795. 

6. Attossa Pinckney, born Oct. 8, 1797; married Captain 

John Wyatt. 

7. Hannah D., born Feb. 24, 1800; married Beston Cal- 

lahan. 

8. Peter L., born Feb. 28, 1802 ; married Jane Johnson. 

9. Elvira E., born March 27, 1804; married James Hughes. 

10. Malinda M., born Nov. 23, 1806; married Conrad and 

remained in Virginia. 

11. Margaret J., born March 22, 1809; married Frederick 

Hamilton and lived in Columbia, Mo. He was the 
editor of the Columbia Patriot in 1842. 

12. Benjamin F., was a prominent physician in Montgomery 

Co., Mo.; died in 1896 — the last survivor of the 12 
children of Major Benjamin Sharp. 

Montgomery County, Mo., was organized Dec. 14, 1818, and was 
named for Montgomery Co., Ky., because so many citizens from that 
county had settled there. Pinckney was the first county seat of the 
county. The removal of the county seat to Lewiston ruined the flourish- 
ing town of Pinckney and even the spot where it stood has long since 
been washed away by the currents of the Missouri River. That part of 
Montgomery Co. is now included in Warren Co., which was organized 
Jan. 5, 1833- 







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NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS l8l 

The first judges of Montgomery County Court were Isaac Clark, 
Moses Summers, and John Wyatt. At the first meeting of the Court, 
Clark resigned and Maj. Benj. Sharp was appointed to fill the vacancy. 

" The first criminal case tried in Pinckney was against a man named 
Jim Goen, who stole a pair of shoes from his sweetheart. He was 
sentenced by the court to receive twenty-nine lashes at the whipping post, 
which at that time was a familiar instrument of justice, as there was one 
at every Court House in the state. When the sentence was pro- 
nounced, the prisoner ran, was chased by the sheriff and caught, as he 
fell in trying to jump a fence; he was taken back to the whipping post 
and the punishment was inflicted. This was the first and last sentence 
of the kind ever executed at Pinckney."* 

Below will be found some interesting' historic facts abstracted 
from the letters of Major Sharp; and in Part V of this book will 
be found his interesting description of the battle of King's Moun- 
tain as an eye-witness. 

Major Benj. Sharp writes: 

" In these times our part of the country was in a constant state of 
alarm. To recount all the hair breadth escapes and murders would fill 
a volume. 

About harvest time in 1779, news came that the Tories were embodying 
on the head of the Yadkin in N. C, and on the New river and Walker's 
creek in Va., with intention of destroying the lead works on New river, 
from which the West received its supply of lead, and then to force their 
way to Cornwallis in the Carolinas. Our militia, all well mounted, turned 
out under Col. Wm. Campbell and proceeded to meet this new kind of 
enemy but the Tories dispersed at our approach. We then pursued them 
in small detachments, capturing and imprisoning them. We made the 
old ones give security for good behavior and pardoned the young ef- 
fective men on condition of their serving as faithful soldiers of the 
U. S., during the war. We made good recruiting officers. About this 
time there were numerous Indian raids. A young man by the name of 
Fulkerson was killed, my oldest brother, Thomas, was badly wounded, 
but being on horseback, made his escape and recovered. My brother- 
in-law, Jacob Fulkerson and a young man named Calahan were both 
killed while hunting cattle. Several families were destroyed and a num- 
ber of prisoners were carried off. Richard Fulkerson, an uncle of my 
wife, and his family, except wife and two children, were killed. Peter 
Fulkerson, another of her uncles and his wife and child, were taken 
prisoners. Fulkerson himself had escaped and was out of danger, but 
gave himself up for the sake of his family. They were taken to 
Ohio and at Chillicothe poor Fulkerson suffered a painful, lingering 



* " Pioneer Families of Mo.' 



l82 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

death by being burned for several days, as the manner of the Indians 
then was." 

Mr. Sharp speaks of more than two of his sisters who had 
families. In the fall of 1778 two of his sisters and their fami- 
lies removed to Kentucky, and were all taken by the British and 
Indians in Riddle's Station, on Licking river, and carried to 
Canada and detained there as prisoners till the end of the war; 
but they all got home safely with an increase of one in each 
family. 

The celebrated Logan was with this party. My brother-in- 
law, Captain John Dunkin, an intelligent man, had several con- 
versations with him on the trip. He said Logan spoke both 
English and French. He told Captain Dunkin that he knew he 
had two souls, the one good and the other bad; when the good 
soul had the ascendant, he was kind and humane ; when the bad 
soul ruled, he was perfectly savage and delighted in nothing but 
blood and carnage. The account that Captain Dunkin gave of 
Logan's death was that Logan's brother-in-law killed him as 
they returned home from a council, held at Detroit, on account 
of some misusage he had given his sister at the council. 



Benj. Sharp states in a letter to the American Pioneer, April 23rd, 
1842: 

' That it was Capt. Evan Shelby, the father of Isaac Shelby, who 
fought so bravely at the battle of Point Pleasant, Sept. 10, 1774; 
that Governor Isaac Shelby's chief laurels were gained in the south dur- 
ing the Revolution, particularly in the Battle of King's Mt ; that his 
two elder brothers and himself fought with him in that memorable 
battle ; that at the time of Lord Dunsmore's campaign, the Shelby 
family lived near neighbors to his father's family and for many years 
afterwards." 

In a letter June 15, 1842, Benj. Sharp gives a long descrip- 
tion of the breaking out of the Cherokee Indian War in 1776, 
simultaneously with the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He 
states that all Western Virginia, including Washington Co., and 
west of it, and Sullivan and Washington Counties in North 
Carolina (now Tennessee), were broken up and the inhabitants 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 183 

driven into strongholds. There were a number of murders and 
Indian raids during the summer. He enlisted with a company- 
taken under pay to protect Fort Black that summer and in 
November an army of about 2000 strong, under Colonel William 
Christian, moved on the Indian towns. He cannot recollect 
whether they killed any Indians but they burned their towns, 
destroyed their corn, and reduced them to a state of starvation, 
which resulted in the Treaty of Long Island. He attended this 
treaty and heard the speech of the " Raven," the principal chief. 
An Indian had been shot by some abandoned fellows, which very 
much alarmed the Indians and there was danger of breaking up 
the conferences. When the council met, the " Raven," in a great 
speech, reverted to the case of the murdered Indian. He said : 
" Lest that unhappy affair should disturb the harmony and sin- 
cerity that ought to exist at this time between the white and 
red brethren, each party ought to view it as having happened so 
long ago, as if when the Indian was buried an acorn had been 
thrown into his grave, which had sprouted and grown and be- 
come a lofty spreading oak, sufficiently large for them to sit 
under its shade and hold their talk." The speech was much 
talked about at the time, and many thought it equal to anything 
in the celebrated speech of Logan. Thus ended the first Cher- 
okee War. 



Thomas Sharp, immigrant, was a native of the north of Ire- 
land, probably of Scotch descent as he was a staunch Presby- 
terian. He settled first in Lancaster Co., Pa., about 1750, and 
removed from there to Washington Co., Va., and settled in the 
southern part of the county about 1770, near the home of Colonel 
Evan Shelby, where he and Col. Shelby lived neighbors for about 
twenty years. 

Thomas Sharp was married twice and had three sons and sev- 
eral daughters by his first wife, all of whom were probably born 
in Pennsylvania. The sons were John, Thomas, Jr., and Ben- 
jamin. The names and number of the daughters are not known, 
but one of them married William King and one John Dunkin, 
and they both left children. By his second wife Thomas Sharp 
had one child, David, who became a Methodist minister and 
lived and died in Virginia. 



184 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

The three oldest sons were all Revolutionary soldiers ; John 
and Thomas, Jr., served under Colonel Isaac Shelby, and Ben- 
jamin under Colonel William Campbell, and all three of them 
took an active part in the famous battle of " King's Mountain," 
in South Carolina, where Major Ferguson of the British Army 
was killed and his entire army captured. John Sharp probably 
settled in North Carolina; Thomas, Jr., settled in Christian Co., 
Ky., about 1787, and his descendants became very prominent 
people in both Kentucky and Tennessee. Some of his sons and 
grandsons were distinguished lawyers. His son, Solomon P. 
Sharp, was Attorney General of Kentucky, and a grandson, 
Fidellio C. Sharp, of the firm of Broadhead & Sharp, was a 
prominent lawyer of St. Louis, Mo., in 1870. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 185 



EXCURSUS— FULKERSON. 

James Fulkerson came to America from Germany, settled 
first in North Carolina where he married Mary Van Hook and 
removed to Washington Co., Va. The first mention of him is 
found in an order of the Washington Co. Court held May 3, 
1774: "On the petition of the inhabitants of Beaver Creek, or- 
dered Benjamin Logan to open a road from James Fulkerson's 
to the wagon road at Joseph Black's (now Abingdon), the best 
and most convenient way." There is still a small town named 
Fulkerson on the North Fork of the Holston about 20 miles 
southwest of Abingdon, Va. In 1777 the court appointed John 
Anderson, Gilbert Christian, James Elliott, James Fulkerson and 
William Roberts commissioners to view a road from George 
Blackburn's by James Fulkerson's to the forks of the path lead- 
ing to Kentucky and the mouth of Reedy Creek. 

On the 226. March, 1780, James Fulkerson with several others 
were recommended to the Governor " as fit and proper persons 
to be added to the ' Commission of Peace ' of Washington Co.," 
and were commissioned. The Army of Cornwallis was ap- 
proaching from the southern border of North Carolina and 
threatening an invasion of Virginia, and the Washington Co. 
Militia were being called out under Colonel William Campbell ; 
and the Sharps and Fulkersons, relatives of the author, were 
enlisting in that pioneer army, which was soon to win the great 
victory of the Revolution, the battle of " King's Mountain." * 

James Fulkerson (called Valkerson in Germany) reared a 
large family in Virginia ; Peter, James, John, Thomas, Abraham, 
Jacob, Isaac, William, Polly, Catharine, Hannah (who became 
the wife of Benjamin Sharp), and Mary. Peter married Mar- 
garet Craig and had ten children, of whom Robert C, Benjamin 
F. and Frederick settled in Montgomery Co., Mo. Colonel Sam- 
uel V. Fulkerson, killed before Richmond in 1862, and Colonel 
Abram Fulkerson, member of the 47th Congress, both Confeder- 



* See "Pioneer Families of Mo.," for Fulkerson family. See also 
Summer's Hist, of Washington Co., Va. 



l86 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

ate officers, are descendants of James Fulkerson, the German 
immigrant, f 



115. OLIVER PERRY GENTRY, of Paris, Mo. 

(57) Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., April 14, 1814; died in Paris, Mo., 
Aug. 26, 1 88 1 ; married Ann Eliza Bower Feb. 8, 1841. She 
died about 1868, and he married a Miss Bower, a cousin of his 
first wife. He had no children by either wife. He was for many 
years a farmer and trader, living near Paris, Mo. He was 
afterwards cashier of the branch bank of the State of Missouri 
at Paris. After the Civil War he engaged again in merchan- 
dising. 



116. THOMAS BENTON GENTRY, of Kansas City, Mo. 

(57). Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Columbia, Mo., Oct. 13, 1830; married first, Mary 
Todd, daughter of Rodger North Todd, the first Circuit Clerk 
of Boone Co., Mo., Oct. 30, i860; married second, Eugenia 
Babb, daughter of Rev. R. F. Babb, a Baptist minister. 

He began his business life at the age of 18 years without 
means, as a merchant's clerk, on an exceedingly small salary, 
but by industry, economy, attention to business and steadfast- 
ness of purpose, he acquired quite a fortune. He served as 
Assistant Postmaster in Columbia, Mo., for eleven years, under 
Mrs. Ann Gentry, his mother, who was postmistress there for 
thirty years. 

He attended school at the State University and was grad- 
uated from the law department of that institution in 1874. He 
was Justice of the Peace at Columbia for about ten years ; one 
of the Town Trustees for about the same length of time, and 
part of the time Chairman of the Board ; Treasurer of the Board 
of Curators of the State University for five years ; was an officer 
of the Presbyterian Church at Columbia for over thirty years, 



t See Summer's History of Washittgton Co., Va. 




Oliver Perry Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 187 

first as Deacon and later as an Elder. He was a man of a strong 
character and of decided opinions. He moved to Kansas City, 
Mo., in 1896, and died at his home there Feb. 26. 1906. His 
estate was valued at $100,000. 

Children, by first wife: 

1. North Todd (169). 

2. William Richard (170). 

On Oct. 25, 1905, Thomas Benton Gentry presented to the 
citizens of Gentry Co., Mo., an oil portrait of his father, Gen- 
eral Richard Gentry, for whom the county was named. The 
Albany (Mo.) Ledger of Oct. 27, 1905, said: "A more inter- 
esting ceremony was never witnessed in Gentry Co. Mr. Gen- 
try was escorted by a reception committee from the hotel to 
the court room which was filled to overflowing and was followed 
by the band and military company. Mr. Gentry was introduced 
by Judge C. H. S. Goodman, and the audience listened with 
great interest and close attention to the address of Mr. Gentry, 
in which he presented the portrait to the people of Gentry Co. 
He reviewed the incidents and achievements connected with the 
career of General Gentry from his birth, in Madison Co., Ky., 
in 1788, to his death on the battlefield at Okeechobee Lake in 
Florida. The address was deeply interesting and impressive." * 

The following resolutions were adopted at the meeting: 

Whereas, at a meeting of the people of Gentry Co., Mo., held 
in the court house in the city of Albany, on the 25th day of Oc- 
tober, 1905. for that purpose, the Honorable Thomas Benton 
Gentry of Kansas City, Mo., has presented to the citizens of 
Gentry Co. a magnificent portrait of his honored father, Gen- 
eral Richard Gentry, for whom said county was named ; 

Now, therefore, be it by the citizens of Gentry Co., in this 
meeting assembled, resolved as follows: 

1st. That we tender to the said Honorable Thomas Benton 
Gentry the sincere thanks of the whole people of our county for 
the gift which he has so bestowed upon them. 

2d. That we hereby express our heartfelt appreciation for 



* For the substance of this address see " Life of General Richard 
Gentry," in Part V. 



l88 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

the historical value of the portrait so presented to us, and pledge 
ourselves to preserve and cherish it among the most valued 
archives of our county. 

3d. That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the Hon- 
orable Thomas Benton Gentry, and also to the County Court of 
Gentry Co., at its next sitting, with the request that they be 
spread upon its records, to the end that the appreciation of the 
people of Gentry Co., both for the gift which has this day been 
made them, and for the memory of the distinguished patriot and 
soldier for whom our county took its name, may be preserved 
in enduring form upon the records of said county. 

J. W. Peery, 
A. W. Butler, 
M. M. Campbell, 
G. G. Strock, 
George S. Hundley. 



117. NICHOLAS HAWKINS GENTRY, of Columbia, Mo. 

(57) Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Columbia, Mo., March 7, 1835. He was a young man 
of fine promise and spirit. At the beginning of the Civil War 
he was 26 years of age, unmarried, strong and robust. He es- 
poused the Southern cause, joined the army and took part in the 
battles of Boonville, Carthage and Wilson's Creek. In the last 
named he was wounded in the knee, his leg was amputated three 
times, and he died Sept. 18, 1861, in the hospital at Springfield, 
Mo. 



118. RICHARD GENTRY, of Monroe Co, Mo. 

(58) Rev. Christy V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Sept. 27, 1820; died March 10, 1885 ; married Mrs. Caro- 
line M. Whittaker, Nov. 29, 1848. He moved to Missouri from 
Kentucky with his parents at the age of ten years ; lived first in 
Ralls Co., Mo. He taught school and was a farmer. He was a 
devout Baptist and was active in the Masonic Order. 




Thomas Benton Gentry 



nicholas gentry and his descendants 189 

Children : 

1. Lucy Nancy, born July 3, 1850; married first, John 

Jacob Hawkins, March 8, 1874. Mr. Hawkins died 
within a year, leaving 1 one child. She married the 
second time Philip H. Rudasill, March 11, 1884. They 
lived near Paris, Mo., on a farm, which they sold and 
moved to Belleville, Texas., where Mr. Rudasill en- 
gaged in merchandising. He died Nov. 4. 1888. and 
his wife returned to Missouri, where she and her 
brother, T. C. Gentry, engaged in the hardware busi- 
ness. By second marriage she had two children. She 
married the third time, Alvin P. Woolery, March 29, 
1893. They lived in Bates Co., Mo., for awhile, but 
since 1894 have made their home in Nevada, Mo. 

Children : 

a. Mary Caroline Hawkins ; born January, 1875 ; died Jan. 

21, 1885. 

b. Mollie Rudasill ; born Jan. 18, 1885 ; died an infant. 

c. Flora Warder Rudasill ; born Sept. 4, 1886. 

2. Amanda Mahala, born October, 1853 ; married George 

Coplinger of Paris, Mo., Dec. 22, 1881. They had: 
Julia G. ; Vida and Vira. 

3. Flora, born May, 1858; died single, Sept. 27, 1879. 

4. Thomas Christy, born Aug. 8, i860; married Ida G. 

Brown, May 22, 1893. He was reared in Ralls Co., 
Mo., and now lives at Norman, Ok. His children are : 
Caroline M. and Richard; born August 11, 1899. 



119. WILLIAM TANDY GENTRY, of Franklin Co., Mo. 

(58) Rev. Christy V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

He first engaged in business as a merchant with Woods, 
Christy & Co., in the wholesale dry goods business in St. Louis, 
Mo., and was with that firm for many years. He then lived on 
a farm in Ralls Co., Mo., and in 1887 engaged in lead mining 






190 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

in Franklin Co., Mo. He married Hattie C. Morris of Boone 
Co., Mo. 

Children : 

1. Mary, died infant. 

2. James Christy, married Mary D. Gentry, a daughter of 

his uncle Christy. 

3. Hattie Morris, married John R. Redmon. 



120. CHRISTY GENTRY, of Ralls Co., Mo. 

(58) Rev. Christy V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Dec. 7, 1824, in Kentucky. He came to Ralls Co., Mo., 
with his parents while a youth. Married Evodia Redmon, Jan. 
13, 1848, and died Sept. 23, 1867. 

Children : 

1. Lucy Anna, married Samuel S. Hampton, June 2, 1867, 

and lived in Ralls Co., Mo. 

Children : 

a. Christy G. ; lives in Monroe City, Mo., where he practises 

dentistry; he married Minnie C. Boyd, May 18, 1892, 
and had : 

(1) Miss Willie Lee. 

(2) Gordon Christy. 

b. William B. 

c. James E. 

d. Alfred W. 

2. Richard Christy. 

3. Eugene. 

4. Mary D.. married James Christy Gentry, a son of her 

uncle, William Tandy Gentry. 

5. Amanda T., born March 28, 1856; married John Brown, 

Sept. 18, 1878, and lived in Shelby Co., Mo., and had: 
Eugene G., Lillian, Christy B., John, Paul and Mark. 

6. James T. 

7. Jane B., married Oscar Hawkins. 

8. Evodia C. 

9. Ella L., born May 14, 1863. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I9I 

10. Joshua H., married Nora Gosney. 

11. Frank Hendrick, born Nov. 6, 1866, Monroe City, Mo. 



121. JOSHUA HENRY GENTRY, Nevada, Mo. 

(58) Rev. Christy V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born and reared in Ralls Co., Mo. ; married April 14, 1857, 
Mary A. Elliott. He went to Colorado in the spring of 1859, 
and remained in the gold diggings near Denver until fall when 
he returned home. He again caught the gold fever in 1863, 
and joined a party of eighty who made the overland trip to 
California from Omaha to Sacramento in ninety-three days. 
In 1864 he made an expedition into British Columbia. Return- 
ing in the fall to California, he fortunately rescued his cousins, 
Mrs. Allie Farrell and children, and Mrs. Amanda Gentry and 
children, widow of Samuel Gentry, his cousin, who had just died 
and been buried beside the trail. They were en route to Cali- 
fornia. He had this desolate little party conducted safely over 
the mountains to Sacramento. Samuel Gentry was a son of 
Rodes Gentry of Missouri. In 1866 he started home to Mis- 
souri by vessel from San Francisco and after a stormy voyage 
landed at Tehauntipec and crossed over the mountains to Lake 
Necatanga on mules, thence by boats to Greytown, where he 
took a vessel to New York. In 1879 he moved with his family 
to Vernon Co., Mo. 

Children : 

1. Anna H.. born July 18, 1863; married Dec. 25, 1884, 

David Piersal and lives in Lamar, Mo., and had : a. 
Mary, and b. Virginia Bell. 

2. Franklin K., born Aug. 22, 1868; married Mrs. Myrtle 

Stephenson of Pueblo, Colo., and now lives in Ne- 
vada, Mo. 



122. RICHARD BENTON GENTRY, of Philadelphia, Pa. 

(59) James V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Galena, 111. ; went to California in 1849 with his 
mother's family. The trip was a long and hard one for they 



192 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

had to travel by the overland route. He was once sheriff of 
Mariposa Co., Cal. ; made some money in mining stocks in the 
days of the Comstock Lode but lost it again. Married twice ; 
separated from his first wife and married again in Philadelphia 
and leaves several children there by second marriage. 

Child, by first wife : 
1. Martha, married David L. Jones, a livestock commis- 
sion merchant, and lives in Kansas City, Mo. She has 
several children. 



124. HENRY CLAY GENTRY, of Nora, Okla. 

(60) Joshua V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Oct. 5, 1829; died Nov. 15, 1895, in Nora, Ok. He 
married Mary Ella Gentry, a daughter of his uncle, Overton Gen- 
try, March 5, 1857. He was a farmer, well respected and rea- 
sonably successful ; was educated in the public schools of Pal- 
myra and Hannibal, Mo. ; learned surveying during the con- 
struction of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, of which his 
father was president. In 1852 he went to California and met 
with some success in the gold mines ; returned after an absence 
of three years and located at Butler, Mo. 

He freed his slaves at the beginning of the war and organized 
Company E, Second Regiment of Missouri State Militia, Vol- 
unteer Cavalry, and served as Captain of that Company for 
three years. Pie lived in Kansas for a number of years after 
the Civil War and afterwards removed to Nora, Ok. 

Children : 

1. Lucinda Bell, born Sept. 5, 1858; married first, William 

Seibert, Feb. 26, 1876; had Mary C, born June 
/ 10, 1877. She married second, William Clendenning, 

in 1880 and had eleven children. 

2. Addie May, born Sept. 9, i860; married Alfred M. 

Keas, Feb. 18, 1879 and had five children. 

3. Overton H., born Oct. 5, 1865. He is a successful 

operator in real estate in Joplin, Mo., and vicinity. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 193 

He married B. Maude Newell, Oct. 5, 1893, and had 
one son, Overton Harris, born Nov. 16, 1901. 

4. Joshua Richard (twin), born April 1, 1869; died Oct. 

15, 1906; unmarried. 

5. Thomas Ellis (twin), born April 1, 1869; married Nellie 

Adams, Oct. 15, 1893. 

Children : 

a. Jay Joseph; b, Aug. 25, 1894. 

b. Irene May; b. Jan. 1, 1897. 

c. Nellie Marie ; b. Jan. 7, 1899. 

d. Vera Mary; b. Dec. 27, 1900. 

6. Carrie Ellen, born Sept. 13, 1873; married Davis Estes, 

Nov. 28, 1895, an d had four children. 



125. JOSHUA HENRY GENTRY, of Dresden, Mo. 

(60) Joshua V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born May 21, 1836; died Aug. 25, 1890; married Amanda 
Haggard, Nov. 13, 1855. She died Nov. 29, 1870. He was a 
farmer and lived near Dresden, Mo. (See page 239.) 

Children : 

1. A. Clay, born 1856; lived in Aspen, Colo.; unmarried. 

2. Andrew J., born 1858, Dresden, Mo. 

3. Annie, born March 4, 1861 ; married F. W. Glascock, 

Oct. 8, 1878, and resides at New London, Mo. 

Children : 

a. Gentry; b. Aug. 1, 1879. 

b. Nettie Bell; b. Jan. 28, 1882. 

c. Bina Pledge; b. Aug. 22, 1884. 

d. Campbell H.; b. July 22, 1888. 

e. Amanda L. ; b. Oct. 26, 1890. 
/. Annie O. ; b. Dec. 24, 1895. 

4. Joseph William, born 1864 ; married and lives at Cen- 

ter, Ralls Co., Mo. His children are: Mildred and 
Anna Bell. 



194 TH E GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

5. Bina, born March 7, 1867; married John Scott, Sep- 
• tember, 1885 and they had six children. All live at 

Sedalia, Mo. 

6. Amanda, born Sept. 29, 1868; married William Glas- 

cock, Nov. 8, 1887, and resides at New London, Mo. 
Their children are: Edna, born 1888, and Lucile, 
born 1892. 



126. JOSEPH M. GENTRY, of Ralls Co., Mo. 

(60) Joshua V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born June 8, 1840; died Nov. 26, 1901 ; married Sallie Glas- 
cock, Nov. 26, i860. Lived on his farm in Ralls County not far 
from Hannibal, Mo. When he was a young man he was con- 
nected with the engineers in the building of the Hannibal and St. 
Joseph Railroad. He was for several terms elected County Judge 
of his county. He was appointed by President Cleveland as 
United States Livestock Inspector, which he held during his last 
terms of office. He was a successful farmer and man of affairs. 

Children : 

1. William Henry, born May 9, 1865 ; died July 13, 1896. 

2. French Joshua, born Sept. 13, 1867. Resides at Pond 

Creek, Okla. 

3. Charles Marshall, born July 16, 1874. Resides at Han- 

nibal, Mo. 



127. JOHN CAMPBELL GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(60) Joshua V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Marion Co., Mo., Aug. 2^, 1843 ; married Dottie Hag- 
gard, Aug. 23, 1866; died July 15, 1878; lived on his farm 
near Sedalia, Mo. ; was a soldier in the Civil War on the Union 
side, and served in John M. Glover's cavalry. (See page 239.) 

Children : 

1. Charles Campbell, married Minnie Gotchchalk in 1903. 

2. Mary Bell, married J. M. Manhorter, May 1, 1889. 

Resides in Dresden, Mo. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I95 

128. JAMES BLYTHE GENTRY, Oswego, Kan. 

(60) Joshua V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Sept. II, 1847; married Anna E. Mills, Feb. 21, 1868, 
and lives in Oswego, Kan. He served in the Civil War in the 
13th Ohio Cavalry, in the 9th Cavalry Corps, under General Phil. 
Sheridan. 

Children : 

1. James Doniphan, born 7, 1868. 

2. Albert R., born Nov. 22, 1870. 

3. Addie F., born Dec. 12, 1872; married G. W. Lewis of 

St. Louis, Mo. 

Children : 

a. Edwin; b. Jan. 1st, 1893. 

b. George F. ; b. Oct. 9th, 1895. 



129. CHARLES RODES GENTRY, of Marion Co., Mo. 

(60) Joshua V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Marion Co., Mo., Jan. 11, 1852; died Dec. 24, 1895; 
married Catherine C. James, June 1, 1876. He owned his father's 
old homestead in Marion Co., Mo. ; was a successful farmer and 
an extensive stock raiser. He was a Republican in politics and 
was elected twice as Judge of the County Court of Marion Co. 
He was one of the best known and most popular men of his 
county. 

Children : 

1. Marietta, born May 8, 1877; married Charles F. Fisher, 

Nov. 22, 1900. They have one child : Ellis Gentry, 
born June 13, 1902. They reside at Hannibal, Mo. 

2. Richard Henry, born June 28, 1881 ; married Anna H. 

Neal, June 27, 1901. Address Hannibal, Mo. A 
farmer. 

Children : 

a. Virginia C. ; b. Apl. 26, 1902. 

b. Charles Neal ; b. May 7, 1904. 

c. Richard Henry. 

3. Malcolm Stephen, born Jan. 8, 1891, Hannibal, Mo. 

4. Catherine C, born Jan. — , 1895. 



I96 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

130. PETER TRIBBLE GENTRY, of Boyle Co., Ky. 

(61) Joseph V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Dec. 19, 1819; died in Boyle Co., 
March 12, 1894. He was a son of Joseph Gentry and his mother 
was a daughter of Peter Tribble, whose wife was a niece of 
Daniel Boone. His educational advantages were only such as 
the country schools afforded. He was a keen observer and had 
a large fund of good common sense and applied it to good pur- 
pose. He married Martha Jane Smith, whose father Benjamin 
Smith, was a Kentucky pioneer from Virginia, a large land and 
slave holder. She was a loyal and devoted wife, a strong, pa- 
tient and tender mother. She died May 25, 1879. Her influ- 
ence continued after her death like an abiding spirit with her 
husband and children. He was a trader and farmer by inher- 
ited bent and deliberate choice. By energy, foresight and thrift, 
by enterprise and integrity, he accumulated a large estate of 
lands and personal property. His home farm, with its fine old 
brick mansion, comfortable and capacious, situated on the Har- 
rodsburg pike, only a few miles from Danville, consisted of 
1350 acres of the finest blue grass land, a model of order and 
intelligent management, and was stocked with fine short-horn 
cattle and a few thoroughbred horses. He also owned stock- 
yards for handling horses and mules at Lexington, Ky., Rich- 
mond, Va., and at New Orleans, La. 

All his sons and daughters remained at home until after their 
father's death, except when some of the sons were away trading 
or handling stock. All was held as a family property. The 
complete and beautiful success of this community of property 
among Peter Gentry and his sons is a rare feature of family life, 
challenging the ideals of romance. The father was the head and 
inspiration, and each son gave all his time and talents and shared 
everything in common ; each son made his check on the common 
bank account for whatever necessities he required. Through 
the healthful and enduring influence of the father there per- 
vaded this entire family a confidence, unselfishness and love 
rarely found in family life. The excellent character of his sons 
and daughters was the delight of his old age and the consola- 
tion of his last moments. All of his nine sons were men of 
positive virtues ; sober, industrious, thrifty, honorable, success- 




Peter Tribble Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I97 

ful ; and his two daughters have excelled equally as noble, re- 
fined women, and have been famed for domestic virtues and 
housewifely accomplishments. The lawyer who assisted in set- 
tling up the large estate, afterwards said it was the most pleas- 
ant work of the kind he had ever done, because of the noble un- 
selfishness manifested by the heirs, each preferring the others to 
himself. Four of the heirs still live on a part of the home place, 
and hold their interests in common. 

Children : 

1. Benjamin Smith (171), born May 29, 1845. 

2. Joseph, born Oct. 4, 1846; died March 3, 1880. 

3. James H., born Dec. 19, 1847; married Sallie Harding, 

May 23, 1882. Lives near Danville, Ky. They had: 
Julia H., born June 1, 1883. 

4. Peter Tribble, born Aug. 14, 1849. He has never mar- 

ried ; lives with his brothers, Richard and William, 
on his father's fine estate, perfectly satisfied with his 
sister Martha's management of the domestic affairs. 

5. Napoleon Francis, born Feb. 19, 1851 ; died May 22, 

1884. 

6. Julia, born March 28, 1852 ; married J. R. Shannon, 

Nov. 14, 1894, and lives in Texas. 

7. Franklin M., born May 30, 1853 ; married Helen Har- 

rison. June 30, 1897. He died Aug. 30, 1904. He 
dealt largely in mules in the South, and lived in New 
Orleans for some years but for the last five years of 
his life lived in Lexington, Ky. They had : Frank, 
born March 10, 1898. 

8. Elizabeth A., born April 13, 1855; married John Butler, 

Jan. 9, 1872. She died Oct. 10, 1876. They had: 
Julian G., born Nov. 30, 1872 ; died May 3, 1879. 

9. Richard, born Sept. 17, 1857. He and his brothers, 

Peter T. and William, live on the old homestead near 
Danville and carry on their business in partnership. 
10. Martha J., born July 8, 1859; married A. J. Caldwell, 
Oct. 28, 1886. Mr. Caldwell died Aug. 14. 1907. She 
lives on the old Peter T. Gentry estate and still owns 
her undivided interest in her father's farm with three 



I98 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

of her bachelor brothers, Peter T., Richard and Wil- 
liam, and superintends the domestic affairs of the 
home. Her loving, cheerful and bountiful hospitality 
does credit to the magnificent old homestead. They 
had: Peter Gentry Caldwell, born Dec. 7, 1888. 

11. William Christy, born Oct. 1, i860. He has not mar- 

ried and lives on the old homestead, and is in partner- 
ship with his brothers, Tribble and Richard. 

12. Thomas Blythe, born Dec. 2, 1861 ; married Susan M. 

Gentry, his cousin, daughter of his great-uncle, Val- 
entine Gentry. They had: Julian Valentine, born 
June 20, 1898. 



131. JOSEPH H. GENTRY, of Jackson Co., Mo. 

(61) Joseph V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky Sept. 20, 183 1 ; died Oct. 26, 1863. He was 
a Confederate soldier. His family is still living about Inde- 
pendence, Mo. His wife was Mary Henley. 

Children : 

1. Alonzo. 

2. Joseph. 

3. Overton H. (172). 

4. Reuben. 



132. WILLIAM H. GENTRY, of Lexington, Ky. 

(61) Joseph V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky Oct. 11, 1840; died May — , 1908; married 
Mary L. Coleman of Fayette Co., Ky., Jan 21, 1869. He was 
named for General Harrison, and from his boyhood was called 
" General " ; was for a short time in the Southern Army, under 
Colonel Nappa of General Longstreet's command. He lived a 
few miles northeast of Lexington, on the pike road, at " Gentry 
Place," a lovely home. His wife, " Mamie Honey," as he called 
her, a refined and cultured woman, proficient in music and art, 
and a fine hostess, presides over and is the moving spirit of, 
" Gentry Place." Mr. Gentry was a successful farmer and 




w 

a 



s 

o 






NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS I99 

planter, a fine judge of stock, and raised some fine trotting 
horses. 

He was very fond of fox hunting and usually kept a fine 
pack of hounds. Several times in recent years when he has 
gone South in the winter time for his health, he has taken along 
with him some saddle horses and his pack of hounds, and amused 
himself and friends chasing wild-cat, deer and fox on the Ala- 
bama coast. 

He was the prime mover in the " Gentry Family Reunion," 
held at " Crab Orchard Springs," Kentucky, in August, 1898, 
and was its first President. 

Children : 

1. David Coleman, born in Fayette Co., Ky.. Dec. 17, 1871 ; 

married Letitia May Lucas, Oct. 21, 1897. 

2. Laurance, born Nov. 18, 1878 ; is engaged in the bank- 

ing business in Lexington, Ky. 



133. OVERTON H. GENTRY, of Independence, Mo. 

(61) Joseph V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., June 16, 1836; died in the spring 
of 1908; married Elizabeth Henley, September, 1859, in Jackson 
Co., Mo. She was a sister of his brother Joseph's wife. They 
had only one child, but raised several orphan children. He was 
generous to a fault, would divide any time with a friend or with 
one in need. He was always full of fun and was noted as a 
good story teller. 

Child: 
1. Elizabeth, born in 1876; married Churchill White of 
Kansas City, Mo., in 1900, a grandson and heir of 
C. J. White, formerly cashier of the National Bank 
of Commerce of Kansas City. They have one child, 
Berrhl, born in 1901. 



134. JOHN FRANKLIN GENTRY, of Oxford, Miss. 

(62) Overton V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Aug. 17, 1824; married America 



200 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Bright and had one daughter. He was a Southern soldier in the 
Civil War. He and his first wife separated and he went to 
Mississippi, where he became a planter and married Mira Clark 
and reared four children. 

Children : 

1. Maggie, married first, J. M. Scott, and second, Abe 

Beggs, who was for many years chief hog buyer for 
the Armour Packing Co. at Kansas City. He died 
in 1902. She had no children. 

2. Frank, Oxford, Miss. 

3. L. J., Oxford, Miss. 

4. Ellen, Oxford, Miss. 

5. Bell R., Oxford, Miss. 



135. WILLIAM ESKRIDGE GENTRY, of Dade Co., Mo. 

(62) Overton V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky Jan. 5, 1826; married Maria Miller, in 
1847. He was a farmer and trader, especially in horses and 
mules, which he shipped to the south. He came to Dade Co., 
Mo., in 1872, and died on his farm in Dade Co., Jan. 23, 1890, 
and his wife died May 18, 1890. 

Children : 

1. Overton H., born Sept. 8, 1849; married Mary Carpen- 

ter, May 26, 1885. 

2. Jacob M., born Nov. 13, 185 1 ; died in Silver City, Colo., 

Sept. 24, 1886. 

3. Josephine, born Jan. 30, 1854; married W. T. Buffing- 

ton, Dec. 31, 1874. and lived in Dade Co. 

4. Thomas F., born Feb. 3, 1857; married Nellie Mills, 

July 29, 1886, and lives in Grand Junction, Colo. 

5. Maggie P., born Dec. 27, 1861 ; married George H. 

Griffin, Sept. 1, 1886. 

6. Robert L., born Feb. 28, 1865 ; died Nov. 25, 1889. 

7. Eskridge R. (173). 

8. Peter B., born June 21, 1871. 




General Wm. II. Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 201 

136. WILLIAM OVERTON GENTRY, of Fox, Oregon. 

(63) Rodes V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Marion Co., Mo., June 12, 1833; died in Oregon in 
April, 1901. He came to Columbia, Mo., as a young man and 
learned the saddler's trade with Mr. Henry Crumbaugh. He 
married Emma L. Morrow, Feb. 10, 1857, and soon after set- 
tled in California. Later he lived at Fox, Oregon, where his 
widow and some of his children still live. 

Children : 

1. Mary Alice, born 1859; married Magoon and lives in 

San Jose, Cal. 

2. Emma Leora, born 1861 ; married Lovejoy, and lives at 

330 North 1st Street, San Jose, Cal. 

3. Martha Ann, born 1862; married Short and lives at 

Fox, Oregon. 

4. Carrie M., born in 1864; married Hugh S. Breszee and 

lives at 15 17 Brush Street, Oakland, Cal. 

5. Charles Lee, born Dec. 12, 1868, Fox, Oregon. 

6. Walter Allen, born Oct. 10, 1873, Hamilton, Ore. 

7. Richard Rodes, born Sept. 22, 1875, Fox, Oregon. 

8. Alfred Edger, born Dec. 1, 1879, Fox, Oregon. 



138. DAVID GENTRY, of Montgomery Co., Mo. 

(70) Bright Berry V, David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky. ; died in Missouri, Dec. 5. 1892, at 
80 years of age. He settled in Montgomery Co., Mo., in 1833; 
married Polly A. Groom and reared a family of nine children. 
He was a successful farmer and well regarded in his neighbor- 
hood and county. 

Children : 

1. William J., born Feb. 22, 1837. His children are: 

Joseph E., and Pleasant A. 

2. Joseph C, born Feb. 17, 1839. He lives near Amicus 

P. O. in Montgomery Co., Mo. His children are: 
Laura A., Pearly D., Nettie V., Orville L., Nellie E., 
Ruth W., Jesse B. 



202 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

3. Christopher C, born Oct. 5, 1849. His children are: 

Naomie V., Georgia, Nina. 

4. Elzino, born Dec. 10, 1854. 



139. JONATHAN J. GENTRY, of Montgomery Co., Mo. 

(70) Bright Berry V, David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Oct. 2, 1815; settled in Montgom- 
ery Co., Mo., in 1833, and married Elizabeth McFarland. He 
was a prosperous farmer and highly esteemed; a large raiser of 
tobacco; was a very kind, generous man. After the Civil War 
he built homes for two widowed sisters of his wife on one of 
his farms, where they reared their families. He also reared 
nine children and four grandchildren, and died at 80 years of 
age. 

Children : 

1. Albert, born July 17, 1837, Lawton, Okla. ; a bachelor. 

2. Eleanor, born Nov. 24, 1840; married C. W. Pratt, 

Louisiana, Mo. 

3. Eva Ann, born Jan. 28, 1842 ; married William Garvin. 

4. John R., born Dec. 12, 1844; married Missouri Norman, 

High Hill, Mo. 

5. Bright Berry, born July 14, 1847; married Selma Mc- 

Farland, Big Springs, Mo. 

6. Robert A., born March 1, 1850; married Mary Norman; 

both dead. Children: Orpha, married Myers, and 
Ophelia, married James Gentry, her first cousin, grand- 
son of David Gentry of Montgomery Co., Mo. 

7. Nannie E., born Sept. 16, 1853; married Alexander 

Douglas, Spokane, Wash. 

8. Eliza Margaret, born Sept. 26, 1856; married J. P. Nor- 

man, New Florence, Mo. 

9. Sallie F., born Sept. 24, 1859; married M. E. B. Gal- 

breath, May 12, 1878, LuVerne, Minn. He has 
eleven children. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 203 

140. PLEASANT GENTRY, of Clinton Co., Mo. 

(71) Pleasant V. David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., in 1820. He came with his father's 
family to Clay Co., Mo., in 1833, an d nas ever since lived in 
Clay or the adjoining county of Clinton. He was a successful 
farmer, a man of honor and integrity, and highly respected. 



Children : 
George W., born Jan. 24, 1857. Dead. 
Thomas J., born March 25, 1859. Dead. 
Virginia L., born May 16, 1863. 
Ida P., born June 28, 1865. 
Albert S., born May 28, 1868. 
James M., born June 30, 1870. 
Nannie Lizzie, born Feb. 21, 1876. 



141. DAVID W. GENTRY, Locust Branch, Ky. 

(72) David V, David IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., March 25, 1834; married Malinda 
Jarrett first, and after she died he married Abbie McKeen. He 
was a farmer. He served in Civil War as Second Lieutenant in 
Co. F, 14th Kentucky Regiment. 

Children, by first wife: 
Emeline. 
James. 
Irvine. 
Spicey B. 
Robert M. 
Jarrett. 
Rody Ann. 
Bowen. 

Child, by second wife: 
Mary Eliza. 



142. GILBERT MARTIN GENTRY, Bluff Springs, Fla. 

(78) Ransom V, Martin IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Jan. 30, 1843 '■> married Exie P. Durden, April 16, 1866. 



204 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

He was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. He was for 
twenty years Justice of the Peace and is now Judge of the 
Criminal Court of his district. 



Children : 
Ida A., born Dec. 20, 1867; married Lucius Medlock. 
Elbert Cisaroe, born Feb. 2, 1872. 
Albert S., born Dec. 30, 1874. 
Gilbert Neal, born Dec. 9, 1876. 
Lee Exter, born Nov. 11, 1879. 
Ada, born April 9, 1882. 
Dora Bell, born Nov. 20, 1883. 
Henry Walter, born Dec. 18, 1885. 
Oscar D., born Oct. 20, 1888. 



143. DAVID GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(80) Nicholas V, Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Sept. 15, 1817; died Dec. 24, 1887; married first, Har- 
riet Briscoe, Feb. 27, 1845; second, Barbara King, and third, 
Vara H. Henry. He was a bridge carpenter, owned a good 
farm in Bullitt Co., and also followed the milling business. 

Children : 

1. James Briscoe (175). 

2. Asa H. 

3. Price H. 

4. Benjamin G., Louisville, Ky. 



144. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(80) Nicholas V, Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Bullitt Co., Ky., Aug. 13, 1819; married Paulina Shel- 
ton of Hart Co.. Ky., and died July 30, 1854.. 

Children : 
1. James M., farmer, Linwood, Hart Co., Ky. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 205 

Mary, married Rticket, Rio, Ky. Their son, Virgil 
Rucket, is a postal clerk in Manila, Philippine Islands. 
Laura, married Wyatt, and lives in Hodgensville, Ky. 



145. JAMES B. GENTRY, of Bullitt Co., Ky. 

(80) Nicholas V, Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Bullitt Co., Ky., July 28, 1821 ; died April 13, 1855; 
married Amelia Miller. He was a noted miller of Springfield, 
Ky. His daughter, Nora, married James H. Hackley of Forest, 
111'. 



150. NAPOLEON B. GENTRY, Midland, Texas. 

(85) John B. V, James Richard IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky, and when grown enlisted in the Southern 
Army, and became the captain of a cavalry company. His 
father and his three brothers all went into the Southern Army. 
His brothers, Richard K. and John B., were killed in battle. He 
lives in Midland, Texas. 

Children: 

1. William B., Midland, Texas. 

2. Mrs. J. C. Calhoun, Albuquerque, N. M. 

3. Richard, Albuquerque, N. M. 

4. Napoleon, Midland, Texas. 



151. JEFFERSON FISK GENTRY, of Trigg Co., Ky. 

(88) John V, Bartlett IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born September, 1819,, in Tennessee; died in Cadiz, Ky., 
March 21, 1887; married first, Elizabeth Mann, Dec. 14, 1837; 
married second, Nancy Mann, Oct. 11, 1843; married third, Mrs. 
Catherine Richardson, Dec. 1, 1859. He was left an orphan at 
14, the oldest of seven children. He was married at 18 and en- 
gaged in farming for thirty years, until about 185 1, when he 
engaged in merchandise. In 1853 he built the Valley Forge 
Iron Furnace in Montgomery, Tenn., and in 1855 he built the 
Great Western Furnace, and later the Laura Furnace in Trigg 



206 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Co., Ky. He had accumulated quite a fortune for those days. 
Just before the Civil War he was entirely broken up by security 
debts. He was a man of good business ability and great energy. 
He was a Mason and a Methodist. 

Children, by first wife: 
i. Joel Mann, born April 21, 1839; was graduated in medi- 
cine at 22, and settled in Cave-in-Rock, 111. 

2. John J., died in infancy. 

3. Robert, born April 24, 1851, in Dover, Tenn. He was 

a farmer and Deputy Sheriff of Trigg Co., Ky. He 
was a large-hearted, generous, whole-souled man. 
Died at Cadiz, Ky., Dec. 12, 1894. Married Miss 
Lilly Jefferson, Dec. 5, 1883, and had ten children. 

Children : 

a. John Jefferson; born Apl. 15, 1S85. 

b. Nancy Mann; born May 5, 1887. 

c. Mary Waddington ; born Aug. 28, 1888. 

d. James Fisk; born March 28, 1890. 

e. Robert Henry; born Oct. 6, 1891. 

/. Lillian Hicks ; born Sept. 19, 1892. 

g. T. Thomas Perry; born May 5, 1894. 

h. Irene Amarett; born June 11, 1896. 

i. Pocahontas; born Aug. 19, 1898. 

;'. Clarence P. ; born March 7, 1901. 

4. Jefferson Fisk, Jr., born Dec. 17, 1853; married Eloise 

Barbiere and lives in Petersburg, Va. Their children 
are: Florence Eloise and Renna. 

Children, by third wife: 

5. Bettie Munda, born Sept. 1, i860. 

6. Mary Smith, born Sept. 1, i860; married R. L. Waller 

and lives in southern Florida. 

7. Blanche, born Dec. 3, 1861. 

8. Sarah Louisa, born May 5, 1865. 



152. SAMUEL C. GENTRY, Rome, Ga. 

(gi) Charles V, Martin IV, Robert III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 207 

Born in Jefferson Co., Tenn., he moved to Rome, Ga., in 1866. 
He married Flora Speer in 1869. She died in October, 1883. 
He engaged in the mercantile business until 1874, and since that 
time has been in the cotton trade. He was a Confederate sol- 
dier and was captured at the battle of Big Black River in Mis- 
sissippi in May, 1863, and held a prisoner until the close of the 
war at Camp Morton, Ind. 

Children : 

1. Charles F., Rome, Ga. 

2. Samuel C, Jr., Rome, Ga. 



153. CHARLES M. GENTRY, of Nabob, Ky. 

(92) William V, James IV, Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Barren Co., Ky.. March 6, 1842; married Parmelia 
Mitchell, Jan. 29, 1880, daughter of George W. Mitchell of 
Clay Co., Tenn. Farmer, stock raiser and merchant. His 
children are: Luther B., Ida F. 



154. WM. T. GENTRY, of Tompkinsville, Ky. 

(93) Robert V, James IV, Benajah III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Oct. 29, 1843, at Meshack, Monroe Co., Ky. ; died Jan. 
23, 1902; married first, Susan T. Mans, who died Sept. 7, 1869; 
married second, her sister, Laura B. Mans, daughter of R. T. 
Mans and granddaughter of Levi Gist. 

Children : 

1. Alice. 

2. Eva. 

3. Lena, married Bigglestaff. 



155. JAMES N. GENTRY, of Augusta Co., Va. 

(95) William B. V, Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., Oct. 10, 1829; died at New Hope, 
Augusta Co., Va., Sept. 8, 1888; married Samantha Brown, 



208 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

daughter of Ira B. Brown and Frances Mullin, Aug - . 25, 1852, 
and settled in Augusta Co., Va. He was a magistrate under 
the old County Court system, a man of the highest character, 
generous and kind. He was prominent as a Democrat in his 
county. He was a faithful friend, a devoted husband and father, 
and left the heritage of a good name to his children 

Children : 

1. Mary M., born Sept. 21, 1855. 

2. Sallie J., born Sept. 21, 1857. This young lady has as- 

sisted the writer materially in collecting data for the 
Virginia branches of the family. 

3. Fannie A., born Dec. 27, 1859; married H. G. Barnhart 

and lives in Augusta Co., Va. 







Children 


a. 


Walter W. 




b. 


G. Gray. 




c. 


Ruth L. 




d. 


Myrtle F. 




e. 


G. Nathaniel. 




f. 


Frank M. 





Kate O., born Nov. 4, 1861 ; married W. P. Hardin and 
lives in Fluvana Co., Va. 



a. 
b. 
c. 
d. 


Clyde G. 
J. Nathaniel. 
Mary V. 
Willie 0. 


Children 


e. 

f. 


Ira Brown. 
Robert Lee. 





5. Virginia L., born Jan. 10, 1863; married C. L. Fere- 

baugh and lives near St. Johns, Kan. He died in 
1889. They had one child: Floyd Lee. 

6. Pattie F., born April 21, 1865; married G. F. Barger 

and lives at Neodesha, Kan. 

7. Augelien, born June 2, 1867. 

8. Gertrude I., born Dec. 10, 1869; married W. T. Miller 

and lives in Augusta Co., Va. They have one child: 
Margurett I. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 209 

156. JOHN RICE GENTRY, of Gordonsville, Va. 

(95) William B. V, Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., May 5, 1827; died Dec. 24, 1900. 
In 1 85 1 he married Mary Mansfield, daughter of Franklin M. 
Mansfield of Franklin Co., Va. He became a resident of Gor- 
donsville, Va., and when he died had been a resident of that 
town for 49 years. He served in various official capacities in 
both town and county ; 14 years a member of the Town Council, 
Police Justice for six years, and Mayor of the town. He was 
left an orphan when a child, and commenced his business life 
while yet a boy. He first tried school teaching, then clerked in 
a cross-roads store, and afterwards engaged in merchandising 
for himself. He was Station Agent for the Railroad Company 
at Gordonsville for 28 years. He was a man of the highest char- 
acter, a devout Christian of the old school, faithful and true, 
and whatever he did was well and conscientiously done. He 
was a man of the most generous impulses and agreeable manners, 
yet no man was more inflexible when questions of principle were 
involved. His life work was rewarded beyond the ordinary 
direct compensation. He had a salutary influence for good 
among the people with whom he lived; but his greatest reward 
was in the five noble sons that he reared. All became men of 
good character and standing, educated, of fine business capac- 
ity, and very successful. 

Children : 

1. William Thomas (176), born 1854. 

2. Fenton Allen (177), born 1856. 

3. James Clay (178), born 1858. 

4. Stonewall Jackson (179), born 1863. 

5. John Hebert, born 1865. 



156*. JAMES C. GENTRY. 

(97l) James V, John IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., Feb. 2, 1835. He made an over- 
land trip to California in 1857, and has lived there ever since. 
He has been a very successful farmer and fruit raiser, and re- 
tires from business in his old age quite well off. He is a man 



210 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

of much energy, good intelligence, and extended information; 
very religious and greatly interested in church work. He is a 
man of fine character, good principles and high purpose. He 
has several daughters and three sons, and has given them all a 
good education. 

Children : 
i. Wm. H. H. Gentry, born December, 1868, in California. 
Graduate of the High School of Petaluma, Cal., of the 
State University of California at Berkeley, and also a 
graduate of the Harvard Law School at Cambridge, 
Mass. A lawyer of prominence at Oakland, Cal. 

2. Walter F., born Aug. 9, 1871. 

3. Rose Etta, born Oct. 14, 1872. 

4. Frances, born Jan. 18, 1875. 

5. Albert, born July 20, 1877. 

6. Florence E., born Feby. 27, 1880. 



157. DR. WILLIAM D. GENTRY, of Chicago, 111. 

(98) Hayden V, Martin IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Christian Co., Ky., Sept. 8, 1836. He lived for some 
years in Kansas City prior to 1890 and later in Chicago. 

Children: 

1. George Venable, born Feb. 16, 1859; died April 8, 1896; 

married Jennie Wood. 

Children : 

a. Georgia Irene ; born Nov. 19, 1886. 

b. William Frank; born Sept. 8, 1884. 

2. Gus, born August, 1864. 



158. HORACE B. GENTRY, of Gallipolis, Ohio. 

(98) Hayden V, Martin IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Christian Co., Ky., in 1839; married Martha Young 
in 1859 and had three children. He was divorced from his first 
wife in 1866 at Princeton, Ind., and two years later he married 
Sarah J. Vauden at Gallipolis, Ohio., and had three children. 
He was a merchant tailor, having followed that business nearly 
all his life. 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 211 

Children, by first wife: 

1. Valentine B., born at Princeton, Ky., Aug. 12, i860. 

He learned the printing business in the Cincinnati 
Commercial office, and afterwards attended the Wood- 
ward High School for three years, and then moved to 
Quincy, 111., and became the owner and editor of the 
Home Seeker, a newspaper published in that city. 

2. Emma. 

3. Horace Robert, born May 20, 1864, at Bowling Green, 

Ky. He was a mechanic by nature, and soon found his 
way into the engine-room of a big flouring mill. At 
16 years of age he moved to Quincy, 111., became a 
locomotive engineer. In 1905 he accepted a position 
as engineer of the electric light plant at Columbia, 
Mo. He married a widow, Mary Brison, and has five 
children: Edgar, Irene, Horace, Anna May and Rich- 
ard Haven. 

Children, by second wife: 

4. Anna. 

5. Alice. 

6. Charles V. He married Miss Honshell of Huntington, 

W. Va., in 1900. He is proprietor of a flourishing 
tailoring establishment at Gallipolis, Ohio. 



159. ALFRED SHAW GENTRY, Baltimore, Md. 

(98) Hayden V, Martin IV, Martin III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Christian Co., Ky., Dec. 23, 1845 ; married Kate But- 
ler, Aug. 21, 1865. He is a newspaper man. 

Children: 

1. John Butler, born Sept. 1, 1869; married Virginia 

Dougherty, Dec. 5, 1892 ; editor and proprietor of Bur- 
tonian, published at Teckamah, Neb. His children 
are: Edna and Alfred. 

2. Guy R. 

3. Alfred S. 

4. Hayden B. 

5. Harry S. 



SEVENTH GENERATION 

160. WILLIAM M. GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(108) Richard VI, Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Pettis Co., Mo., Sept. 19, 1837; died May 1, 1889; 
married Bettie H. Gentry, widow of his brother, Reuben. His 
early education was acquired at a school established by his father 
on his own estate, and taught by Mrs. Analyza Gentry Bryan, 
daughter of General Richard Gentry, a famous teacher; after- 
wards at Fulton, Mo., under Mr. Kemper, and later at Boon- 
ville, Mo., after Mr. Kemper had opened his Boys' School at 
that place. He was a farmer. He served a short time in the 
State Militia during the Civil War. His father died in 1865 
leaving a landed estate of over 8000 acres, and William Gentry 
had the care and management of the estate. He was a fine busi- 
ness man, intelligent and successful ; a good companion, and very 
fond of his gun and dog. He had no children. 



161. REUBEN JOEL GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(108) Richard VI, Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Pettis Co., Mo., Jan. 2, 1839; died Oct. 5, 1881. His 
education was obtained in the country schools of Pettis Co., 
and at the Kemper School at Boonville, Mo. After the com- 
pletion of his studies he returned to his father's estate, consist- 
ing of nearly 8000 acres of well improved land in one body, and 
assisted in its management until his father's death in February, 
1865, when his father's lands were divided into farms averaging 
1700 acres each, one of these being allotted to each member of 
this family. He enlisted in the Sixth Regiment of Missouri 
State Militia, and served on the staff of Colonel John F. Phil- 
lips, commander of the regiment, and participated in the stir- 
ring scenes enacted in Missouri and Arkansas during his four 
years of service. After the war he, in partnership with his 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 213 

brother, William M. Gentry, engaged in fine stock-breeding and 
farming. The Gentrys of Pettis Co. are known all over the 
country as successful breeders of fine stock. He married April 
5, 1871, Bettie Hughes, daughter of Reese Hughes of Pettis Co. 

Children: 

1. Ruby, born April 8, 1872 ; married Dr. W. J. Ferguson 

of Sedalia. She died June 16, 1900. 

2. Sallie Burch, born Aug. 12, 1874; married Thomas J. 

Sturgis of Sedalia, Mo. 

3. William Henry, born March 15, 1876. 

4. Charles Richard, born Feb. 8, 1878. 

5. Reuben Joel, born Dec. 19, 1880. 

These three young men are engaged in the cattle business 
under the firm name of Gentry Brothers on the fine estate left 
them by their father and uncle William. 



162. RICHARD WHITE GENTRY, of Pettis Co., Mo. 

(108) Richard VI, Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Jan. 3, 1857, in Pettis Co., Mo.; died November, 1883; 
married Ella Tussey in 1877. He was a graduate of the Mis- 
souri State University ; was gifted as a public speaker, and be- 
came a minister of the Christian Church. He was a promising 
business man and gave much time to his farm and stock-raising. 
He was only 26 years of age when he died, yet he was Secretary 
of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture and President of 
the State Wool Growers' Association. 

Children : 

1. Laura, born Sept. 21, 1878. 

2. Mary, born Jan. 31, 1880. 

3. Richard, born Aug. 17, 1881. Was graduated from the 

Missouri State University in 1905, and having chosen 
the ministry as his calling, he at once entered the 
Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 
1907, he continued his theological studies at the Chi- 



214 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

cago University. He is a minister of the Christian 
church, a good public speaker, has a good voice and a 
pleasing manner, and with his broad and liberal edu- 
cation, promises to be one of the leading men of his 
denomination. 



163. NICHOLAS HOCKER GENTRY, Pettis Co., Mo. 

(109) Joel W. VI, Reuben V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born on the old Gentry Homestead, six miles north of Sedalia, 
Mo., now known as the " Wood Dale " Stock Farm, March 16, 
1850. He was educated in the common schools of the county. 
His father died when he was a child and his mother, Jael Hocker 
Gentry, married his father's brother, Richard Gentry, who had 
recently lost his wife, and young Nicholas was reared by his 
uncle until his death in 1865. Here he learned farming and 
stock breeding on a large and scientific plan, and when he mar- 
ried in 1875, he was prepared to take charge of his own estate, 
left him by his father and to lay the foundation of the national 
reputation he has acquired as the breeder of hogs and cattle. 
His specialty has always been fine Berkshire hogs. At the 
Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1876, he paid $550.00 
for the first prize hog. In 1893 he was appointed by the stock- 
men of the United States and Canada, as one of a committee 
of 18, to look after their interests at the Columbian Exposition 
at Chicago. At this fair members of his great herd of Berk- 
shires were awarded thirty-two separate prizes in competition 
with the prize winners of the world, including England and 
America. He holds to-day more prizes and diplomas than any 
other breeder in America, if not in the world. 

For seven years he has been President of the " American Berk- 
shire Association," and for three years President of the " Na- 
tional Association of Live Stock Exhibitors of America." 

He was appointed a member of the World's Fair Commission 
at Chicago from Mo., in 1893. In 1904 he was appointed one 
of the commissioners of Mo., at the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- 
tion at St. Louis, which had charge of the expenditure of the 
Missouri appropriation of $1,000,000.00. 

He married Minnie D. Carter, Dec. 29, 1875. 




Hon. Nicholas Hocker Gentry 



nicholas gentry and his descendants 215 

Children : 

1. Jael, born March 8, 1879; married June 5, 1901, Dr. 

William Fuller of Chicago. 

2. Ella, born July 12, 1880; married June 23, 1904, Robert 

H. Smith ; who died Dec. 6, 1904. 

3. Nannie M., born Aug. 9, 1881 ; married March 4, 1903, 

Major P. Kidd. 

4. Lucy H., born Jan. 5, 1883. 

5. Lee M., born Feb. 20, 1885 ; was graduated from the 

Missouri University in 1905. 



164. REUBEN GENTRY, Nashville, Tenn. 

(no) Reuben VI, Reuben E. V. Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born July 24, 1865; married Carrie Lee Hughes of Versailles, 
Ky., Jan. 31, 1887. Attended school for a time at Center College. 
Engaged in the drug business but soon after his father's death 
in 1890 he returned to the farm. His brother Henry died in 
1892, and he undertook the active management of his father's 
estate, being the sole survivor of the family. In 1898 he had 
a very flattering offer from Mr. George W. Vanderbilt, to take 
charge of his fine stock business at his " Biltmore Farm," near 
Asheville, in North Carolina, which he accepted and held for 
seven years. In November 1904, he resigned his position with 
Mr. Vanderbilt to accept the position of General Manager of 
the " Overton Hall Farm," near Nashville, Tenn. He has re- 
cently moved to southern California. 

Children : 

1. Nancy Boone; died an infant. 

2. Proctor ; died 1894. 

3. Reuben ; died 1897. 



165. RICHARD T. GENTRY, of Sedalia, Mo. 

(in) William VI, Reuben E. V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Pettis Co., Mo., Sept. 11, 1850. He was reared on a 



2l6 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

farm, but did not have a taste for farming. After he was 
grown he lived mostly in Sedalia, Mo. He married Mattie 
Prewitt, of Pike Co., Mo., in 1877; she died in 1881. In 1902 
he married again and lived in San Francisco, Cal., where he 
died in October, 1906. He was fond of politics, was elected 
treasurer of Pettis Co. in 1878, and held the office until 1884. 
He was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of the Ararat Temple 
of the Mystic Shrine, and of the order of Elks.. He was the 
Kansas City manager of a Life Insurance Co., for several years. 
He was a genial, affable, courteous, handsome gentleman; kind- 
hearted and generous to a fault. He was proud of the Gentry 
name and loved his relatives. He was very active in promoting 
the Gentry reunions of 1898 and 1899. 



166. JOHN R. GENTRY, Pettis Co., Mo. 

(in) William VI, Reuben E. V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Pettis Co., Mo., Jan. 20, 1861. He lived on his father's 
farm and engaged in farming and stock raising until 1890. He 
raised the celebrated horse John R. Gentry but sold him for 
$10,000.00 before he made his best time. He was the manager 
of the St. Louis Horse Show for a number of years. He is 
now farming in Pettis Co., Mo. 



167. RICHARD GENTRY, Kansas City, Mo. 

(114) Richard Harrison VI, Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, 

Nicholas I. 

Born in Boone Co., Mo., Nov. 11, 1846; reared on a farm, his 
early education was obtained at a log school house in the coun- 
try. Until he was 17 years old he worked on the farm in the 
summer and went to school in winter. In 1863 he was sent 
to the " Kemper School for Boys," at Boonville, Mo. So anx- 
ious was he for an education, that he proposed to apply his own 
savings of $200.00 if his father would spare him from the farm. 
This proposition was accepted but at the beginning of the next 
year, Sept, 1864, his father's losses from the war had been such 




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NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 217 

that he did not feel that he could afford to send him back to 
school and so wrote Mr. Kemper. Mr. Kemper replied that if 
he would let him come back, he would take the young man's 
obligation for his schooling to be paid when he could. The 
result was that he returned to school. 

He did not remain long however, but left school the middle 
of October 1864, to join General Price's Army which came 
through Boonville at that time on its famous raid through 
Missouri. He served until the close of the Civil War as private 
and Sergeant Major. He belonged to Captain Heber Price's 
company, Colonel William's Regiment, General Joseph Shelby's 
brigade and General Price's division of the Confederate Army. 
He was engaged in the battles of Sedalia, Westport, Pleasanton, 
and Newtonia. 

On his return home to Columbia, Mo., after the war, he en- 
tered the Missouri State University in the fall of 1865, from 
which institution he was graduated in 1868 and given the degree 
of Ph. B. ; three years later the same institution conferred on 
him the degree of M. S. He was also elected a member of the 
Alpha Chapter of " Missouri Phi Beta Kappa," and while in 
college he was an active member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fra- 
ternity. 

Having adopted the profession of civil engineering, he spent 
his summers while at the university at work with the engineers 
in charge of the construction of the railroad and turnpikes of 
Boone Co., which were then being built. After graduation he 
at once obtained a position on the surveys of the Chillicothe and 
Omaha Railroad as topographer. After the completion of the 
surveys from Omaha to Chillicothe, Mo., which took about a 
year, he accepted a position on the old Louisiana and Missouri 
River Railroad, as division engineer and built a division of that 
road in Callaway Co., Mo., extending from Jefferson City north 
for 12 miles — now a part of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. 
In 1872-3, he was stationed at Little Rock Arkansas, in 
charge of a division of construction on the Cairo and Fulton 
Railroad, now the Iron Mountain. He first laid out all the towns 
on that railroad north of Little Rock to the Missouri line, and 
then was given a division of construction which included the 
supervision of the building of the steel bridge over the Arkansas 



2l8 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

river at Argenta, which is still standing. Cast iron cylinders 
were sunk to solid rock, by use of compressed air and the cyl- 
inders were filled with cement concrete. 

Mr. Gentry was married Nov. II, 1873, to Susan E. Butler, of 
Callaway Co., Mo., a daughter of Martin Butler, a native of 
Halifax Co., Va. She was a graduate of " The Baptist Female 
College," of Columbia, Mo. He made his home in Mexico, Mo., 
until 1880 and engaged in farming and banking; he also became 
interested in mining in Colorado, and promoted successfully sev- 
eral large mining enterprises.. 

In the fall of 1880 he moved to Kansas City, Mo., became in- 
terested in banking and cattle ranching in Colorado, and in 
1885 invested largely in Kansas City real estate, most of which 
he sold in 1877, at handsome profits before the decline in values 
began. He built his present residence at 2600 Troost Avenue in 
1882 and has resided there ever since. 

In 1889 he was one of the incorporators of the Kansas City, 
Nevada and Ft. Smith railroad, now the Kansas City Southern, 
and was its first chief engineer and general manager, and was 
one of its largest stock holders. In the fall of 1895 he retired 
from his connection with this railroad, having sold his inter- 
ests. Under his management the first 300 miles south from 
Kansas City were built and put in operation and the next 100 
miles were located and partly constructed. 

In 1899 Mr. Gentry engaged in the manufacture of shoes in 
Kansas City which did not prove very successful and was soon 
discontinued. Since that time, he has not engaged in business 
requiring his personal supervision. 

He is still interested in the Tombstone Consolidated Mines of 
Arizona, in the Peregrina mines of Guanajuato, Mexico, in coal 
mines of Indian Territory and Arkansas, and also in the manu- 
facture of portland cement in Kansas. 

Exchange Building Sold. 

Richard Gentry bought the Exchange Building at Trustee's sale for 
$250,000, Thursday. The sale was held at 2 o'clock on the steps of the 
Custom house; Sheriff R. S. Stone acting for Col. C. F. Morse and 
Winslow Warren of Boston, the trustees. Mr. Gentry had already 
bought in the outstanding bonds. 

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NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 2IO, 

ciation in which holdings were held by a large number of Kansas 
Citians, in many cases, of only one share each. 

Bonds for $350,000, covering the cost of construction were sold largely 
in the East. A deed of trust for that sum was given by the Associa* 
tion to Col. Morse and Mr. Warren, dated Dec. 1, 1887. This deed 
of trust came due Dec. 1, 1897. As only $50,000 had been paid on it, and 
that several years ago, building and grounds went to trustees' sale. 

The trustees declining to serve, Sheriff Stone was called upon to 
officiate and sell the building. — Kansas City Star, June, 1898. 

Mr. Gentry is a man of good business judgment, of fair finan- 
cial ability and has always liked large transactions. He was 
reared an Old School Presbyterian but in later life has become 
more liberal and inclines towards Unitarianism and the Higher 
Criticism. In politics, he was a Democrat from his youth but 
in 1896 he opposed Mr. Bryan and his free silver platform, and 
has voted for the Republican candidate for President ever since 
and may now be called an Independent in politics. 

He was one of the charter members of the society of the 
" Sons of the Revolution," in Kansas City, Mo. In 1899 he was 
elected President and Historian of the Gentry Family Association 
of the United States at the Gentry reunion of that year. He is 
also the author of this volume. 

He is a strong believer in and an advocate of higher educa- 
tion. All of his six children entered college directly from the 
High schools of Kansas City, Mo. ; two of his daughters were 
graduated from Vassar College ; his two sons were graduated 
from Yale University, and his youngest son will in June, 1909, 
graduate as a mining engineer after an additional two years' 
study at the Columbia School of Mines in New York City. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth Butler, born Oct. 1, 1874. She was educated 

at Monticello Seminary in 111., and the Missouri Uni- 
versity. She is an active and prominent member of the 
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
and was the organizing Regent of the Kansas City 
Chapter of that Society. 

2. Richard Hardin, (180); born Oct. 20, 1878. 

3. Ruth Russell, born Aug. 26, 1880; was graduated from 

Vassar College in 1902 with degree of A. B. ; married 



220 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Oct. 20, 1908, William H. Bush of Chicago, 111. He 
is a son of James Bush and Caroline Lucretia Hills ; 
grandson of Henry Bush and Sarah Rockwell ; and 
great grandson of Zecariah Bush and his wife, Mary. 
Zecariah Bush was probably born in Westfield, Mass. 
He was a pioneer settler in 1800, in Lewis Co., New 
York; and died there Nov. 20, 181 1, as shown by his 
tombstone, now in the graveyard at Houseville, Lewis 
Co., New York. Zecariah Bush was a revolutionary 
soldier and served as second lieutenant in Captain John 
Kellogg's Company, having received his commission 
April 26, 1776. His name was on the muster roll of 
the company of Minute men from Westfield, Mass., 
which marched April 20, 1775, at the time of the 
Lexington alarm.* 

Child: 
a. Wilhelmina Gentry Bush, born Aug. 1, 1909. 

4. Mary, born June 18, 1882. She was graduated from 

Vassar College in 1904, with the degree of A. B. 

5. Helen, born Aug. 4, 1884; married Dec. 30, 1908, Ed- 

ward Bonneau Noble of San Francisco. She was 
graduated from Dana Hall, at Wellesley, Mass., and 
afterwards spent an additional year taking a post 
graduate course. 

6. Martin Butler, born Oct. 13, 1886. He entered Yale 

University in 1903 and was graduated from that in- 
stitution in 1906 with the degree of Ph. B. He en- 
tered the School of Mines of Columbia University in 
New York City and was graduated in 1909 with the 
degree of E. M. The author is much indebted to him 
for assistance in the proof reading of this book and 
for general supervision of the details of printing. 



* See Rev. War Archives of State of Mass., Lexington Alarm Rolls, 
Vol. 13, p. 78; Mass. Roll, Vol. 28, p. ill. 











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Martin Butler Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 221 



EXCURSUS— NOBLE. 

John Noble, immigrant from Donegal Co., north of Ireland 
in 1733. He married Mary Calhoun, daughter of James Calhoun, 
immigrant, sister of Patrick Calhoun, the father of the statesman, 
John C. Calhoun. 

The Nobles, Calhouns and Pickens all came from the north of Ireland 
together to America in 1733 and remained together in South Caro- 
lina, with few exceptions, until the war of secession. The immigrants 
landed first in Rhode Island, stopped for a while in Pa., then settled on 
the banks of the Kanawha in what is now Wythe Co., Va. After Brad- 
dock's defeat, the Indians became so troublesome they again moved to 
Abbeville, South Carolina, in 1756, and established what was known as the 
Calhoun settlement. 

Alexander Noble, born on voyage to America, son of John 
Noble ; died in Abbeville, S. C. in 1802 ; married his cousin, 
Catherine Calhoun a sister of U. S. Senator John Ewing Cal- 
houn. Mr. Noble was a major in the Revolutionary army and 
served under his brother-in-law, General Andrew Pickens. Gen- 
eral Andrew Pickens married Rebecca Calhoun, a sister of 
Senator Calhoun, who was born in 1749; died in 1802; was a 
Princeton graduate and a distinguished lawyer. General Pickens 
was a lieutenant in the Colonial Indian War of 1761, a general 
in the Revolutionary War and a U. S. Congressman in 1794. 

Patrick Noble, born in Abbeville, S. C. in 1787, son of Alex- 
ander Noble; died in 1840; married Elizabeth Bonneau Pickens 
(born 1797 and died 1834), who was a daughter of Ezekiel 
Pickens and Elizabeth Bonneau, and a granddaughter of General 
Andrew Pickens and Rebecca Calhoun. Patrick Noble was a 
law partner of his relative John C. Calhoun and a member of 
the S. C. legislature for twenty years, until 1832, during which 
time he was speaker for twelve years ; in 1836 he was President 
of the State Senate. He was governor of S. C. for five years 
before his death. He was a graduate of Princeton College. 



222 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Floride Bonneau, who married Senator John Ewing Calhoun, and her 
twin sister, Elizabeth Bonneau, who married Ezekiel Pickens, were the 
only children of Samuel Bonneau and Frances de Languermare, both of 
the best blood of France. The Bonneaus were a noble Protestant family 
from La Rochelle, France, that came to Carolina with other Huguenots 
who had been expelled from France.* 

Edward Noble, born in Abbeville, S. C. in 1823, son of Gov. 
Patrick Noble; died in San Francisco in 1889; married Mary 
Means Bratton. Mary Bratton was born in S. C. in 1827 and 
died in California in 1905 ; daughter of Dr. Wm. Bratton and 
Isabella Means ; granddaughter of Colonel Wm. Bratton, a dis- 
tinguished officer of the Revolutionary War and Martha Robert- 
son.f 

Edward was a college graduate, lawyer, member of Legislature 
of S. C, member of Secession Conventions from that state ; his 
name stands first on Ordinance of Secession, and he was a Major 
in the War of Secession. 

Patrick Noble, born in Abbeville, South Carolina in 1849, 
son of Edward Noble; settled in California about 1868; moved 
to San Francisco and for many years has been president and 
general manager of the Pacific Rolling Mills. He has been a 
successful man of business ; married Caroline Green, daughter 
of Duff Cyrus Green and Rebecca Pickens, who was a West 
Point graduate of 1849, an d became a Brigadier General in Con- 
federate Army; granddaughter of General Duff Green, born 
Aug. 15, 1791 and Lucretia Edwards his wife; soldier, diplomat, 
editor, government printer in Washington and railroad builder 
in Georgia, where he died in 1775 ; great granddaughter of Wil- 
liam Green and Ann Marshall, daughter of Markham Marshall. 
Wm. Green was a brave Revolutionary soldier ; a son of Duff 
Green and Ann Willis, daughter of Col. Henry Willis and Mil- 
dred Washington. Ann Willis was a first cousin of General 
George Washington, her mother Mildred being a sister of Au- 
gustine Washington, the father of Gen. George Washington. 



* For notices of Jacob Bonneau (d. 1786) and Edward Noble and his 
sons George, Samuel, and Wm. Bonneau (1780-1833) engravers and 
printers in London, see Dictionary of National Biography. 

t See story of Martha Robertson Bratton in the Women of the Revolu- 
tion, by Elizabeth F. Ellet. 





Elizabeth 



Ruth 





Mary Helen 

Daughters of Richard Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 223 

Patrick Noble is a descendant of General Andrew Pickens 
through his eldest son Ezekiel Pickens, and Caroline Green Noble, 
his wife is descendant of General Andrew Pickens through his 
youngest son Joseph Pickens. 

Edward Bonneau Noble, born July 17, 1880, in California 

lives in San Francisco and is connected with his father in the 

ownership and management of the Pacific Rolling Mills Co. of 

that city. He married Helen Gentry of Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 

30, 1908. 

This data was furnished by Patrick Noble of San Francisco. See 
also National Encyclopedia of American Biography. See also Dictionary 
of National Biography. See also American Cyclopedia for Calhoun and 
Pickens. 



Military Records of Richard Gentry and Ancestors. 

For the benefit of members of his own branch of the Gentry 
family and their descendants, who may desire to join some of 
the patriotic societies of the country, the writer has given below 
facts about the military services of his ancestors in the various 
wars of the country and a condensed statement of facts about 
them and his relationship to them. 

Richard Gentry, of Kansas City, Missouri, was born 
November 11, 1846. At seventeen years of age, he enlisted as 
a confederate soldier and served in Captain Heber Price's com- 
pany of Colonel Williams' regiment, in General Joe Shelley's 
brigade, in General Price's army. He surrendered at Shreve- 
port, Louisiana in April, 1865, and returned to Missouri by 
Government transports down the Red River and up the Missis- 
sippi to St. Louis. (See Family No. 167 for fuller particulars.) 

Susan Butler Gentry, born December 10, 1850, was 
graduated from the Baptist Female College of Columbia, Mis- 
souri, as Valedictorian of her class, in 1867 ; and married Richard 
Gentry, November 11, 1873. She was reared on a farm, and 
acquired there simple virtues and rare common sense, in an 
unusual degree ; later she added an education from schools, from 
books and extensive travel. A deep and rich culture came with 
the varied experiences of an active, useful and productive life, 
resulting in a noble character, with high ideals, broad sym- 
pathies and rare good judgment. A good wife, great mother, 
a helpful friend, and a delightful companion. 



224 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

" A perfect woman nobly planned, 
To warn, to comfort and command." 

She was a daughter of Martin Butler and Emeline Davis, his 

wife, of New Bloomfield, Callaway County, Missouri. Emeline 

Davis was born June 25, 1807, in Fleming County, Kentucky, 

and was a daughter of Robert Davis from Pennsylvania, born 

September 15, 1777, and Debora Hornbuckle, his wife, born 

March 2, 1787 ; they settled in Callaway County, Missouri, prior 

to 1820. 

Martin Butler was a son of Hudson Butler, of Halifax County, 
Virginia, who had a brother Samuel Butler, who migrated south 
from Halifax County at a very early date; he carried with him, 
on horseback, a half bushel of silver, and was never heard from 
again. 

Martin Butler was born in Halifax County, Virginia, May 
15, 1806; moved to Missouri about 1835; married a widow, 
Emeline Pugh, nee Davis, March 18, 1847 '> died at his home 
near New Bloomfield, Missouri, March 1, 1863. His parents 
died when he was a small child, and he was reared by his 
maternal grandmother, a Mrs. Farmer, of Halifax County, Vir- 
ginia. He had a brother, Joel Butler, who lived and died at 
Peebles, Ohio, leaving descendants ; his sister, Jane, married Rev. 
Apple, of Virginia, and lived at Clarksville, Mecklinburg County ; 
he probably also had a sister, Nancy. His aunt, Edith Farmer, 
died in i860, his aunt Boyd died in 1862, and his aunt Nancy 
was still living in 1867. 

Martin Butler was a successful, prominent, leading citizen of 
his county, and accumulated a fortune in merchandizing, trading 
and farming. 

Richard Harrison Gentry, the father of Richard Gentry, was 
born in Madison Co., Ky. Oct. 15, 1812, and came with his 
parents to Mo. in 1816. In 1837 he enlisted as a Mo. volunteer 
and served as Sergeant Major in his father's regiment in the 
Florida War. He took part in the battle of Okeechobee Lake, 
which was fought with the Seminole Indians on Christmas day, 
1837. He was wounded in the wrist at about the same moment 
that his father, General Richard Gentry, received his mortal 
wound and it was thought at the time by the same bullet. The 
large bullet cut from his wrist is still in the possession of the 




Mrs. Susan Butler Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 225 

writer. He married Mary Wyatt, Dec. 14, 1843, daughter of 
Captain John Wyatt of Warren Co., Mo. He was a farmer and 
merchant. 

General Richard Gentry of Columbia, Mo., the grandfather 
of Richard Gentry of Kansas City, Mo., was born Aug. 25, 1788. 
He married Ann Hawkins, daughter of Nicholas Hawkins of 
Madison Co., Ky., February 13, 1810. He was commissioned as 
Regimental Ensign Sept. 1, 1813, by Gov. Shelby of Ky., and 
served as such in the war of 1812, in Capt. M. Williams' Co., in 
the nth regiment of Ky. Volunteers, under General Harrison, 
and took part in the Battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813. He 
emigrated to Mo. with his family in 1816, and lived for a time 
at Old Franklin, Mo., settling permanently at Columbia, Mo. in 
1820. He became very prominent as a military man, held com- 
missions as Captain, Colonel and in 1832 as Major General ; in 
which capacity he commanded the Missouri troops in the Black 
Hawk Indian War. In 1837, at the instance of his friend, Senator 
Thomas H. Benton, he accepted a commission from the War De- 
partment as Colonel of Volunteers ; raised a regiment of Missouri 
troops and lead them to Florida and was killed at the head of 
his regiment at the decisive battle of Okeechobee Lake, Dec. 
25, 1837. After several years his remains were brought home to 
Mo. by the government and buried at Jefferson Barracks, near 
St. Louis. Gentry Co., Mo. was so named in his honor by the 
Mo. State Legislature. 

Richard Gentry of Madison Co., Ky., a great grandfather of 
Richard Gentry of Kansas City, Mo., states in application for 
a pension, that he was born in Louisa Co., Va., Sept. 26, 1763. 
He enlisted as a Revolutionary soldier in May, 1781, and served 
under Captains John Miller, Benjamin Harris and Woodford; 
Colonels Richardson and Boyer. He was present at the sur- 
render of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. He married first, Jane 
Harris, daughter of Christopher Harris, of Albemarle Co., Va. 
April 5, 1784. He married second. Nancy Guthrie, daughter of 
Nathaniel Guthrie of Ky., Oct. 12, 1821. He moved to Madison 
Co., Ky., from Va., via the Cumberland Gap and the Wilderness 
Trail in 1786. He became wealthy in lands and slaves; was the 
father of 19 children, 16 of whom were sons. 



226 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

David Gentry, father of Richard Gentry of Ky., born about 
1724 in Hanover Co., Va., lived in Louisa Co. and in Albemarle 
Co., farmer and millwright; came to Ky. about 1790 and lived 
with his son Richard. He was married twice — second wife was 
Mary Estes, daughter of Reuben Estes of Va. 

Nicholas Gentry, father of David, was born in New Kent 
Co., Va., in 1697. He lived in Hanover, Louisa* and finally in 
Albemarle Co., Va., and his will was probated in said county 
in 1779. 

Nicholas Gentry, the immigrant, father of Nicholas Gentry 
of Albemarle, probably came to Va. as a British soldier with the 
regiment which landed at Jamestown in January, 1677, sent over 
by the King to quell the Bacon rebellion. He entered land in 
New Kent Co., Va., prior to Oct. 21, 1684. 

After Hanover Co. was cut off from New Kent Co., in 1720, 
the Parish Records of St. Paul's Parish of Hanover show that 
Nicholas Gentry lived in that county. 

Captain John Wyatt, of Warren Co., Mo., grandfather of 
Richard Gentry of Kansas City, Mo., was born in Montgomery 
Co., Ky., March 11, 1788. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, 
and served as lieutenant and captain of a company of Ky. Vol- 
unteers, in Col. Deshea's regiment and was stationed on the 
river Raisin in the Michigan territory. He came to Missouri 
in 1817 and settled in Montgomery Co., Mo. ; married Attossa 
Pinckney Sharp, a daughter of Major Benjamin Sharp of said 
county. He died in Warrensburg, Mo., Feby. 16, 1865, and was 
buried at Lexington, Mo., in the city cemetery. A beautiful tablet 
and monument, erected by his son-in-law, Dr. John Trader, 
marks his resting place. 

Frank Wyatt, the father of Capt. John Wyatt, was a Revolu- 
tionary soldier in the North Carolina line and after the war, 
settled in Montgomery Co., Ky., and reared a large family. The 
war records do not show his services, but his grandson, Frank 
Wyatt of Marthasville, Warren Co., Mo., a son of Anthony 
Wyatt, wrote in 1898, " that his grandfather Frank Wyatt, a son 
of John Wyatt of North Carolina served in the Revolutionary 
War, seven years and eight months." 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 22*] 

John Wyatt, born about 1735, lived in North Carolina. He 
was the father of Frank Wyatt of Montgomery Co., Ky. His 
ancestry has not been traced farther but he is no doubt related 
to Captain Anthony Wyatt, Burgess from Charles City Co., 
Va. born in 1604 and came to Va. in 1624. This family of 
Wyatts no doubt belonged to the celebrated English family of 
Wyatts, represented by Sir Henry Wyatt, Sir Thomas Wyatt, 
and Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor of Virginia. 

Major Benjamin Sharp, a great grandfather of Richard 
Gentry of Kansas City and father of Attossa Pinckney Wyatt, 
born in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, Jan. 22, 1762, enlisted as a 
Revolutionary soldier from Washington Co., Va, and served as 
Sergeant Major in Colonel Campbell's regiment at the Battle of 
King's Mountain. He was a government pensioner. He married 
Hannah Fulkerson, daughter of James Fulkerson, immigrant of 
Washington Co., Va. Major Sharp settled in Lee Co., Va., and 
in 1816 removed to Montgomery Co., Mo. 

Thomas Sharp, immigrant from north of Ireland, first settled 
in Lancaster Co., Pa., then moved to Washington Co., Va. He 
was a Scotch Presbyterian and the father of Major Benjamin 
Sharp. 

James Fulkerson, immigrant from Germany, settled in Wash- 
ington Co., Va. ; married Mary Van Hook, in North Carolina. 
He was a prominent man in Washington Co., and in 1780 was 
appointed one of the Commissioners of Peace of Washington 
Co., Va. ; reared a large family. He was the father of Hannah 
Sharp, wife of Benjamin Sharp. 

Nicholas Hawkins of Madison Co., Ky., was the father of 
Ann Gentry, wife of General Richard Gentry. He came to 
Kentucky from Spottsylvania Co., Va., about 1785; married 
Ann Robinson in Va. He served with the Virginia state troops 
at the Battle of Yorktown. The war department has no record 
of his services. He made no application for a pension as he 
died in 1821. 

Nathan Hawkins of Spottsylvania Co., Va., father of Nick- 
olas Hawkins, was born in 1716, moved to Kentucky in 1789, and 
died in 1794. It is almost certain that this family of Hawkins is 
descended from William Hawkins of England, the famous sea 



228 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

captain who died in 1554, and who was the father of Sir John 
Hawkins, the Admiral. 

William Robinson, father of Ann Hawkins, wife of Nicholas 
Hawkins; married Sarah Smith of Virginia and moved from 
Spottsylvania Co., Va., to Madison Co., Ky. in 1785. He was 
a man of prominence and wealth ; died, leaving a will, in 1802. 

Peyton Smith of Spottsylvania Co., Va., made bequests to his 
grand daughters, Ann Robinson and Dorothy Peyton Robinson, 
daughters of Wm. Robinson. He died in 1782. Ann Smith, his 
wife, a wealthy, capable business woman came to Kentucky and 
lived to be no years of age. He doubtless was related to the 
prominent Gloucester Co., Va. families of Peyton and Smith, said 
to be the most prominent English families that ever settled in 
Virginia. 

Christopher Harris of Albemarle Co., Va., was the father 
of Jane Harris Gentry, wife of Richard Gentry of Madison Co., 
Ky. He moved to Kentucky in 1790. His descendants are 
among the most prominent people of Kentucky. His first wife 
was Miss Dabney and his second wife, the mother of Jane Harris 
Gentry, was Agnes McCord, of Virginia. She is of the same 
family as the McCords of St. Joseph, Mo. 

Major Robert Harris and Mourning Glenn, his wife, of Al- 
bemarle Co., Va., were the parents of Christopher Harris. He 
was several times member of the House of Burgesses from Han- 
over Co., Va. In 1842 he resigned as a member of Burgesses to 
accept an appointment of surveyor of Louisa Co., which was 
organized in 1842. He was Vestryman of Fredericksville Parish. 
He finally settled in Albemarle Co., where he left a large estate. 
His will was recorded in Albemarle Co. Nov. 8, 1765. His 
female descendants are eligible as members of the society of 
Colonial Dames on account of his services as member of House 
of Burgesses. 

William Harris and Temperance Overton of Virginia were 
the parents of Major Robert Harris. The land office records of 
Virginia show numerous patents to William Harris from 1713 
to 1735, aggregating 4,322 acres. 

Robert Harris, the immigrant, father of William Harris, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 22Q 

married a widow, Mrs. Mary Rice, who was formerly Miss Mary 
Claibourne. He came from England (probably from Wales) 
between 1650-60. 

William Overton of Glen Cairn in Hanover Co., Va., was 
the father of Temperance Overton Harris. The records show 
he had large patents for land for transporting emigrants to the 
colony, the grants aggregating 2,718 acres. 

Col. Robert Overton, the father of William Overton, com- 
manded a brigade of Ironsides at the Battle of Dunbar, under 
Oliver Cromwell, and rendered other distinguished services to 
the Commonwealth. He was a political prisoner many years in 
the tower of London. He was a voluminous writer on philosophy 
and religion. See Biographical Dictionaries. Nearly every Har- 
ris family of this line has had an Overton Harris for over 
200 years and Overton is quite frequently found among the 
Gentrys. 

Col. William Claiborne, the first Colonial Secretary of Vir- 
ginia, was the father of Mary Claiborne Harris, wife of Robert 
Harris. He came to Virginia from England in 1621 with Sir 
Francis Wyatt when he was first appointed governor. He held 
many prominent offices. The Claiborne Pedigrees trace the fam- 
ily in England back to the beginning of the 13th century. 



168. OLIVER PERRY GENTRY, Liberty, Mo. 

(114) Richard Harrison VI, Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, 

Nicholas I. 

Born in Audrain Co., Mo., May 2, 1862. He was reared in 
Columbia, Mo., and educated at the Missouri State University. 
He came to Kansas City, Mo., in 1880, secured a position in 
the drug store of Ford and Arnold at the northwest corner of 
5th and Main streets and learned the drug business. In 1885 
he went to Smithville, Mo., bought a drug store and remained 
in that business there until 1903, when he accepted the appoint- 
ment of private secretary to Governor Dockery and lived for two 
years at Jefferson City, Mo., the state capital. After the term of 
Governor Dockery expired, he bought a drug store in Liberty, 
Clay Co., Mo., and makes that town his home. 



230 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

He is a prominent Democratic politician, widely and favorably 
known throughout the state. He married Almira K. Martin, 
November 30, 1886; she died May 15, 1891, leaving two chil- 
dren: 

Children : 
r. William Harrison, born Nov. 13, 1887. 

2. Richard, born Oct. 14, 1888; died July 20, 1889. 

3. Elston, born Dec. 17, 1889. 



169. NORTH TODD GENTRY, Columbia, Mo. 

(116) Thomas Benton VI, Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, 

Nicholas I. 

Born in Columbia, Mo., March 2, 1866. Eldest son of Thomas 
B. Gentry and Mary Todd. He was graduated from the Missouri 
University in 1888, and at once opened a law office in his native 
town of Columbia, and practiced law quite successfully in Boone 
Co. for seventeen years. 

He was appointed assistant Attorney General in 1906, by 
Atty. General Hadley. He married Oct., 1896, Eulie Denny of 
Randolph Co., Mo. He is a good lawyer of the highest charac- 
ter, of great industry and promise, an able speaker, and has a 
fine memory. He has no children. 



170. WILLIAM RICHARD GENTRY, St. Louis, Mo. 

(116) Thomas Benton VI, Gen. Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, 

Nicholas I. 

Born in Columbia, Mo., Sept 28, 1869. He was reared and 
educated in Columbia and graduated from the state university 
in the academic department in 1891. He manifested a fondness 
for modern language and on the day he was twenty-two years 
old he started to Europe, where he pursued the study of French 
and German in Paris and Berlin. When he returned home he 
was appointed assistant in the department of modern language in 
the university, which position he filled for Ifhree years. He 




Hon. North Todd Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 23 1 

visited old Mexico, in pursuing- the study of Spanish language. 
He also graduated from the law department of the university 
and is quite successfully practising his profession in St. Louis, 
Mo. He married first, Miss Mary Lee Payne of St. Louis Co. 
in 1896, who died leaving one child — William Richard, Jr. — 
a bright promising boy. He married second, Anna Highdorn of 
St. Louis Co., and they have one child. Mr. Gentry is an elder 
in the Presbyterian church, a man of high character, a fluent 
talker, an attractive, forcible speaker and a most amiable, estima- 
ble gentleman. 

Children: 

1. William Richard. 

2. Thomas Frederick. 



171. BENJAMIN SMITH GENTRY. of Lexington, Ky. 

(130) Peter T. VI, Joseph V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Madison Co., Ky., May 29, 1845 > married Mattie Lee 
Smith, Feb. 14, 1895 ; died in 1906 of appendicitis. He was a 
strong, active man, of fine business ability. He was from a boy 
his father's chief assistant in the extensive horse and mule busi- 
ness which he carried on in Kentucky, in Richmond, Va, 
Charlestown, S. C, and in New Orleans. After his father died 
he went into business for himself at Lexington, Ky. He was 
a man of fine character, excellent judgment, and stood high 
wherever he was known. His untimely death, from the operation 
for appendicitis, was a great blow to the family, and was felt 
to be a great loss to the community. He was probably the most 
prominent Gentry in Kentucky at the time of his death. They 
had: Peter Tribble, born July 9, 1899. 



172. OVERTON H. GENTRY, Independence, Mo. 

(131) Joseph VI, Joseph V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Jackson, Mo. May 9, 1859, was reared on a farm, but 
has been proprietor of a drug store in Independence, Mo., 
for many years ; he is very successful and popular, and is quite 



232 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

prominent as a Democratic politician. He was elected to the 
office of County Treasurer of Jackson Co., Mo., in 1904, and 
served his term with much credit and was again elected in 
1908. He married Emma Roberts of Miama, Saline Co., Mo., 
May 21, 1884. 

Children : 

1. Alonzo Henley, born Feb. 14, 1886. 

2. Walter Robertson, born May 19, 1889. 

3. Daughter born Oct. 27, 1894. 



173. ESKRIDGE R. GENTRY, Kansas City, Mo. 

(135) William E. VI, Overton V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Kentucky April 29, 1869. he came with his father to 
Dade Co., Mo., in 1872. He was reared on a farm, and learned 
the stock business, and when he came to Kansas City, as a boy 
of 17, in 1886 to hunt work for himself he naturally drifted to 
the stock yards to seek employment. He was engaged as an office 
boy by the Armour Packing Company ; he has been in their 
employ now 22 years and has been their chief hog buyer for a 
number of years. He married Annie Whyte June 5, 1895, the 
only daughter of E. Whyte of Kansas City. They have no 
children. 



175. JAMES BRISCOE GENTRY, Spencer Co., Ky. 

(143) David VI, Nicholas V, Blackston IV, Nicholas III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born Dec. 26, 1845 \ married Mirand Catherine Walker March 
4, 1879. Teacher, former Deputy Co. Clerk, and County Sur- 
veyor of his county. A Baptist and active church worker; was 
clerk of the Long Run Baptist Association. 



Children : 

1. Stephen Quincy, born Jan. 26, 1880. 

2. Allen Russell, born Sept. 8, 1882. 




Benjamin Smith Gentry 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 233 

176. WILLIAM THOMAS GENTRY, Atlanta, Ga. 

(156) John Rice VI, Wm. B. V, Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., April 14, 1854. He has for many years 
been Vice President and General Manager of the Southern Bell 
Telephone Co., and resides at Atlanta, Georgia. He is consid- 
ered one of the best posted telephone men in the whole country. 
Since Jan. 1, 1909, he has been made president of the Southern 
Bell Telephone Co. He has a wonderful business capacity, is 
a fine entertainer and charming host. 

He married Miss Nina McDonald Mann, of Gordonville, Va. 

Children : 

1. Mary Bell, born Dec. 17, 1876; married Lieutenant Kel- 

ton Lyon Pepper, U. S. A., and has one child: Nina 
Catherine. 

2. Willie Mansfield, born July 21, 1880; married Milton 

French Carlin of Alexandria and resides at Ports- 
mouth, Va. 

3. James Hurbert, born Aug. 28, 1882; resides in Atlanta, 

Ga. ; unmarried. 

4. Thomas Rice, born Sept. 23, 1884. 

5. Nina Keith, born Sept. 24, 1886. 

6. Allen Carson, born Oct. 2^, 1888. 



177. FENTON ALLEN GENTRY, of Chattanooga. Tenn. 

(156) John Rice VI, Wm. B. V, Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., Feby. 27, 1856 ; married Minnie Gray 
of Wainsborough, Ga., and lives in Chattanooga, Ga. He is the 
purchasing agent of the Western Union Telegraph Co. in the 
south, is a man of pleasing address, fine business ability, and an 
extended reputation for character and trustworthiness. 

Children : 

1. John Allen, born July 2, 1886. He is a graduate of the 

University of Virginia, and is at present Resident 

Physician at St. Johns Hospital in Yonkers, New 
York. 

2. Thomas Gray, born June 12, 1887. He also attended 



234 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

school at University of Virginia in 1899. He is now 
in business with his father. 



178. JAMES CLAY GENTRY, Atlanta, Ga. 

(156) John Rice VI, Wm. B. V, Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., July 5, 1858. He lives in Atlanta and 
is Secretary and Treasurer of the Atlanta Coal and Ice Co. His 
wife was a Miss Thornton of Green Co., Va. He is a splendid 
man and she is an intelligent, cultured lady. 

Children : 

1. Stonewall Percy, born June 30, 1884. He is private 

secretary for James R. Stephens, of the Western Union 
Telegraph Co. 

2. James Fenton, born Nov. 11, 1886. He is a telegraph 

operator for the Postal Telegraph Co. 



179. STONEWALL JACKSON GENTRY, of St. Louis, Mo. 

(156) John Rice VI, Wm. B. V, Patrick IV, Nathan III, Nicholas II, Nicholas I. 

Born July 17,1860, in Louisa Co., Va. ; died Dec. 21, 1890; 
married Lottie Berrv of St. Louis, Mo. 



Children : 
George Mansfield, born May 28, 1892. 
Edwin Allen, born Feby., 1894; died 1897. 
James Ray, born Sept. 5, 1896. 
Joseph Jackson, born 1897. 
Thomas Elders, born 1899. 




Richard Hardin Gentry 



EIGHTH GENERATION 

180. RICHARD HARDIN GENTRY, Mobile, Ala. 

(167) Richard VII, R. Harrison VI, Richard V, Richard IV, David III, Nicholas 

II, Nicholas I. 

Born in Mexico, Mo., Oct. 20, 1878; he was reared in Kansas 
City, Mo., and attended the public schools of the city. He spent 
one year in the engineer corps as rodman, during the construc- 
tion of the Kansas City Southern Railroad in 1896 and 1897. 
The next year he filled the position of secretary and treasurer of 
the Exchange Building Association. He decided in 1898 to take 
a college course at Yale and he spent one year in preparation for 
entrance; entered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Col- 
lege in the fall of 1899 and was graduated from that insti- 
tution in 1902. He at once accepted a position in the engineer 
corps of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad and went 
to Topolobampo on the Gulf of California to join the locating 
engineers under the charge of Mr. A. M. Nelson. He remained 
for two years as transit man with the party and until the rail- 
road was located from El Fuerte to Miniacca, — across the moun- 
tains. Two years living in tents and sleeping on the ground 
caused an attack of inflammatory rheumatism so severe that he 
had to be carried out of the mountains for over fifty miles on a 
stretcher on men's shoulders. After recovering, he engaged in 
contracting and building in Kansas City, Mo. 

In 1906 he engaged in the construction of the North Western 
States Portland Cement Co. plant at Mason City, Iowa. On 
June 12, 1907, he married Miss Jeane Blythe, daughter of Judge 
James E. Blythe of Mason City, Iowa. He retired from the 
Cement Co. on Jan. 1, 1908 to accept a position as general super- 
intendent of the American Independent Gypsum Co. and moved 
to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he remained one year. He re- 
signed to accept the position of secretary and treasurer of the 
Mobile Portland Cement and Coal Co. He moved to Mobile, 
Alabama, Jan. 15, 1909, and took charge of his office. Child: 
Richard Blythe Gentry, born March 22, 1909. 



236 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



EXCURSUS— BLYTHE. 

Jeane Blythe Gentry, daughter of Judge James E. Blythe, of 
Mason City, Iowa, is a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Blythe 
and a great granddaughter of the Rev. James Blythe, born in 
North Carolina in 1765 and moved to Kentucky in 179 1. In 
1804 he was made President of the Transylvania University at 
Lexington, Ky. He was connected with this school over forty 
years. He was a very eminent Presbyterian Minister and teacher. 
He was made President of Hanover College, Indiana, in 1831, 
and died in 1842. 

Descent of Jeane Blythe Gentry, wife of Richard Hardin 
Gentry, from John Alden and Priscilla Mullins Alden, who came 
to Plymouth, Mass., in the Mayflower: 

1. John Paybody, born in England about 1590; died at 

Bridgewater, Ct., about 1660; married Isabel; 3rd child 
was: 

2. Wm. Pabody, born in England 1619; died in Little 

Compton, R. I., Dec. 3, 1707; married Dec. 26, 1644, 
Elizabeth Alden, born 1624; died May 30, 1717. She 
was the eldest daughter of John Alden and Priscilla 
Mullins his wife, whose marriage is described by Long- 
fellow. She is said to have been the first female child 
born after the landing of the Pilgrims. Their 12th 
child was: 

3. William Pabody or Peabodie, who lived and died at Little 

Compton, R. I., born Nov. 24, 1664; died Sept. 17, 
1774 ; married Judith — in 1697. Their 7th child was : 

4. Joseph Pabody, born July 26, 1710; died April 7, 1790; 

married in Little Compton, Dec. 23, 1733, Elizabeth 
Briggs, born Oct. 15, 1704; died Sept. 4, 1744. He 
died in New Lebanon, N. Y. His name was spelled 
Pabody on his tombstone. His 6th child was: 

5. Aaron Pabody, born May 9, 1740; married — Fitch. 

Their first child was : 

6. Ezra Pabody, born 1768; died 1796; married Sarah 

Sweeland. Their first child was: 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 237 

7. Ezra Fitch Pabody, born 1789 at New Lebanon, N. Y. ; 

died Feby. 3, 1877, at Vernon, Ind. ; married Oct. 15, 
1820, Mable Butler, born Jan. 9, 1799; died March 3, 
1877. Their 7th child was : 

8. Amelia Pabody, born Aug. 8, 1855 ; died Aug. 22, 1879; 

married Joseph Bennett Smith, born Oct. 21, 1820; 
died Jan. 4, 1899. Their 3rd child was: 

9. Grace Smith, born Apl. 2, 1858; married James E. 

Blythe, June 9, 1881. Their 2nd child was: 
10. Jeane Blythe, born May 31, 1885; married Richard 
Hardin Gentry, June 12, 1907, at Mason City, Iowa. 
They now live in Mobile, Alabama. 

See MSS. family records of Ezra Fitch Pabody and pamphlet 
of B. Frank Pabody. 

ARMS. 

Party perfess nebule. Gules Azure, two suns proper with a 
garb, a crest, scroll and motto " Murus, ^neus conscientia Sana." 
A sound conscience is a brazen wall. Borne by the name of Pea- 
bodie. This name is said to have had its origin in Britton. In 
the year 61, the Ancient Brittons were vassals of the Roman 
Emperor Nero, the Tyrant, who treated their Queen Boadicea 
with great indignities, causing her to be whipped publicly, 
which so enraged the Britons, that they revolted against the 
Romans under the lead of Queen Boadicea, assisted by her 
kinsman, the patriarch of one of the British Tribes, named 
Boadie. They fought many desperate battles, burned the Roman 
city of London and killed 70,000 Roman citizens. The Roman 
general, Suetonius, with 10,000 disciplined troops, finally over- 
came 120,000 of her barbarians and gave no quarter, but butch- 
ered 80,000 Brittons, while only 400 Romans fell that day. 

Boadicea took poison and Boadie escaped to the mountains 
of Wales. The patriarch sacredly preserved his captured Roman 
trophies — a shield and armor and Roman badge of honor, with 
two suns proper in borders. Boadie signified — " a great man," 
and Pea signified — " a large hill or mountain," and the patri- 
arch of the tribe came to be called Peabodie or " Mountain 
man." Pabody and Peabodie are the same name.* 

* See Boadicea, in American Cyclopedia and in the Encyclopedia 
Brittanica. 



238 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



GENTRY-HAGGARD. 

Nicholas Gentry II, of Albemarle Co., Va., who died there 
in 1779, had a daughter Elizabeth, born August 14, 1731, who 
married Nathaniel Haggard between 1745 and 1750 and died 
July 28, 1820. They reared ten children. The two oldest may 
not have been her children, as the oldest one was born in 1845. 

Children : 

1. Henry, born 1745, a Baptist preacher. 

2. Martin, born in 1748, a Baptist preacher. 

3. Elizabeth, born 1752, married Ned Kindred. 

4. John, born 1754, married Mary Sheppard. 

5. Mary, born 1757, married Mr. Kindred. 

6. James, born 1759, married Betsie Gentry. 

7. Jane, born 1761, married David Gentry. 

8. Bartlett, born 1763, married Martha Dawson.) _ . 

9. David, born 1763, married Nancy Dawson, j 
10. Nathaniel, born 1765, married Elizabeth Hayes. 



Nathaniel Haggard and Elizabeth Gentry, his wife, moved 
from Virginia to Clarke County, Ky., with their whole family 
about 1788; in the meantime most of his children were married. 

Their son, Rev. James Haggard, married Betsie Gentry, his 
cousin, a daughter of Moses Gentry, a brother of his mother, and 
also settled in Kentucky. 

Jane Haggard, their daughter, born 1761, married David Gen- 
try, a son of David Gentry, a brother of her mother, and settled 
in Madison Co., Ky. They reared eleven children, among them 
were Elizabeth, born Jan. 6, 1788, who married David Haggard 
and had seven sons and five daughters; and Mary Gentry, born 
March 5, 1790, who married William Haggard, a brother of 
David, her sister Elizabeth's husband, and had five sons and 
seven daughters. These two Haggards, David and William, were 
sons of William Haggard, and grandsons of Edmund Haggard, 



NICHOLAS GENTRY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 239 

a brother of Nathaniel Haggard, who married Elizabeth Gentry 
in Albemarle Co. about 1845-50. 

Among the descendants of David Haggard, born in 1763, a 
son of Elizabeth Gentry Haggard, is ex-governor Routt of Colo- 
rado, now deceased. 

Among the descendants of Jane Haggard, born in 1761, and 
David Gentry, is the Rev. Alfred Haggard, dean of Drake Uni- 
versity, Des Moines, Iowa. 

Joshua Henry Gentry, of Pettis Co., Mo., married Nov. 13, 
1855, Amanda Haggard, and his brother John Campbell Gentry 
of same county, married Dottie Haggard, Aug. 23, 1866. These 
two Gentry's were sons of Joshua Gentry of Palmyra, Mo. 

(See family Nos. : 2, 3, 16, 125 and 127.) 




Francis William Gentry 



PART III 
OTHER GENTRYS 

In the second part of this book the genealogical tables include 
only those Gentrys who are descendants of Nicholas Gentry, the 
immigrant. In this part the Gentrys mentioned cannot be traced 
back definitely to either of the immigrant brothers, but it is 
highly probable that most of them are descended from either 
Nicholas or his brother Samuel, the immigrants. 

The writer has found only two families of Gentrys in the 
United States, whom he feels sure were not descended from one 
of the immigrant brothers. Mr. John E. Gentry of Albany, 
N. Y., born in 1822, came from England in 1851. He states 
that he lived with his grandfather Timothy Gentry, a very old 
man, in 1842 who told him that his oldest brothers had gone to 
the states, but he did not tell their names. This Timothy Gentry, 
born in Sussex Co., England, was the youngest of a large 
family. The home of the Gentrys seems to have been in Essex 
Co., England, where the Parish registers show the name, well 
back into the 16th century. 

The following letter from Mr. Francis William Gentry, will 
give an idea of how unimportant all members of a family be- 
come in England, compared with the oldest son. 

Levendale, Manor Gate Road, Norbiton, April 10, 1899. 
Mr. Richard Gentry, Kansas City Mo., 

Dear Sir. — I thank you for your letter of the 6th of Dec, in reference 
to the Gentry family in this country, and the most interesting accounts 
of the family in the states ; that we are of one family I have little doubt. 

In this country, the head of the family retains the dignity and grad- 
ually the branches are lost, and eventually are often untraceable ; poor 
relations do not help to the dignity, and therefore the ones who are 
endowed with more of this world's goods do not press their affections 
upon them. We English often speak as if the " Almighty Dollar " was 
worshipped only at your side of the water, but I can assure you that 
we should be the last to use such an expression in any way as a term 
of reproach, as I am sorry to say that Englishmen, the last few years, 



242 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

in all stations of life — Nobility — Gentry — and the middle classes, have 
sacrificed a great deal of honor for this " magic coin." 

Now about the Gentrys in England. I wish to be only true in what 
I tell you. The only actual knowledge I have is about my own family. 
My great-great grandfather and his wife were cousins, and were land 
owners in Essex Co., and this country in those days a sign of im- 
portance. My great-grandfather and grandfather were in Bearings 
Brothers Bank, in London. Sir Francis Bearing was sponsor to my 
grandfather, who for the first time in the history of the family, took 
the name of Francis as well as the old family name of William. My 
grandfather took all the enjoyment possible out of his life, and wasted 
all he was possessed of; he had only one fault, he could never say no — 
but was a proud and thorough gentleman, as were his two brothers — 
Henry and Thomas. The family left my father, the oldest son, to make 
his own way, and his early struggle was to pay off every penny of 
debts owing by my grandfather. 

I enclose you a photograph of my father, which you might like to see, 
if you know anything of character and breed, you may agree with me, he 
is not unworthy of the high opinion and love I bear him. 

I believe that one hundred years ago, there was only one family of 
Gentrys in London, our own. The family I believe, can be traced in Essex 
Co., where I think they originally came from. Some years ago my father 
took me to show me the house where my great grandfather died, and 
although we did not make ourselves known when we called at the house, 
and asked to see it, some old woman attendant there said : " Oh ! sir, 
I can see who you are, you are a Gentry." Mind you, the Gentrys had 
their home away from the place fifty years or more. I do not know of 
any Gentrys holding high office in this country, but I believe they must 
come from one common lot, which say 200 or 300 years ago must have 
been only one family, and as I said before — probably in Essex. 

Yours faithfully, 

F. W. Gentry, Jr. 



184. JAMES GENTRY, of Hanover Co., Va. 

Born in Hanover, probably about 17 10, and is either a son of 
Nicholas 1 or Samuel 1 . One of his sons was: George, (185). 



185. GEORGE GENTRY, of Albemarle Co. 

C184) James II. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1732, where he probably re- 
mained until just before the Revolution ; when he removed to 



OTHER GENTRYS 243 

Albemarle Co., settled on land near Free Union in that county 
and remained until he died in 1810. Some of his descendants 
still own the old Homestead patented to him, under the signature 
of King George III. He was a man of large property for those 
days; owned considerable land and a number of negro slaves. 
George Gentry and his wife Elizabeth, make deed to lands in 
Hanover Co., Va., in 1787. His will is recorded in Albemarle 
Co., Va., and was probated Nov. 5, 1810. He names as legatees, 
his wife Elizabeth, his ten children and his grandson George 
Ballard. 

Children : 

1. James, (186), born in 1757. 

2. Nancy, married Edward Walton. 

3. George, (187), born 1765. 

4. Elizabeth, married Edward Ballard and had: George, 

James and Austin. 

5. Patsey, married Gehugh Walton. 

6. Aaron, (188). 

7. Christopher, (189). 

8. William. 

9. Frances, married Nathaniel Tate. 

10. Austin, went to Kentucky, and the following will is 
of record in Madison Co. of that state : " Memoran- 
dum of what Austin Gentry wants done with his prop- 
erty. He says he wants a horse, left with John Wat- 
son, sold and the proceeds of him given to Austin Bal- 
lard ; and the money come from my father's estate I 
want given to Hudson Ballard." 

Signed, Austin Gentry. 



This peculiar short will was allowed to be probated April 29, 
1814. 

Edward Ballard, who married Elizabeth Gentry about 1801, 
afterwards lived in Madison Co., Ky., and reared three sons, 
George, James B. and Austin. The latter lived to be 96 years old, 
and died in Kentucky in 1898. The three Ballards reared large 
families who are among the best people of Kentucky. 



244 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

186. JAMES GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(185) George III, James II. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., in 1757 and died June 22, 1851 in 
Albemarle Co., at the age of 94 years. His wife, Mary Hicks, 
died in 1835. He enlisted in the Continental Army from Han- 
over Co., Va., for three years on Jan. 11, 1777, and was dis- 
charged Jan. 10, 1780, near Morristown, N. J. He served as 
private and Corporal in Captain Eddin's Company, in Colonel 
Charles Harrison's 1st Continental Artillery and was in the battle 
of Monmouth. In 1787 he removed to Albemarle Co. and be- 
came a prosperous farmer, owning considerable land and ne- 
groes. He drew a pension as a Revolutionary soldier until his 
death. He was a great worker in the Methodist Church and 
was a prominent class leader for years. He built a church on 
his land and deeded it to the M. E. Church. His will was pro- 
bated July 7, 185 1, in which he named as legatees his son George, 
Nancy Simmons, Elizabeth Harvey, James and Polly Harvey. 
It appears that his son John was not mentioned in his will but 
the court reported to the U. S. Pension Office that his surviving 
children Oct. 6, 185 1, were John, James, Polly and Betsie Har- 
vey. His will provided that Austin Gentry and Peter Gibson be 
his executors, if John Gentry would go security for his son 
Austin. 

Children: 
1. George (190). 



Nancy, married Simmons. 

Elizabeth, married Harvey. 

James (191). 

Polly, married Richard Harvey, Jan. 3. 1805. 

John, (192), died Dec. 30, 1857. 



187. GEORGE GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(185) George III, James II. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., in 1765 ; died Oct. 28, 1855, at 90 
years of age. He made a deed of gift to lands situated on the 
waters of Henson Creek, in Louisa Co., Va. in 181 1, to his four 
children, naming them as John, Nancy, Jemima and Frankie. In 



OTHER GENTRYS 245 

1824 John Gentry and the husbands of his sisters petitioned the 
court for a division of said lands, which was granted. 

He made his home for many years before he died with his 
son-in-law, James Johnson. He was a Revolutionary soldier. 
He stated in his application for a pension to the War Depart- 
ment, made Oct. 2, 1832, that he was a resident of Albemarle 
Co. ; that he was born in Hanover Co., near Ground Squirrel 
Bridge, in 1765; that in January, 1781, he substituted for his 
father and served as a private in Captain John Thompson's Com- 
pany of Militia for eight months and was wounded in the leg by 
a sword cut. 

Children : 

1. John, died single; gave most of his property to the chil- 

dren of his sister, Frances Johnson. 

2. Nancy, married Jesse Walton, May 9, 1816. 

3. Jemima, married William Gibson. 

4. Frances, married James Johnson. 



188. AARON GENTRY, of Tennessee. 

(185) George III, James II. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1771. After part of his fam- 
ily became grown he moved with the balance of his family to 
Tennessee. He executed a bond for his marriage to Polly Ogg, 
Nov. 18, 1801, and on Jan. 13, 1803, he married Peggy Ogg, as 
shown by the Records of Orange Co., Va. 



Children : 
George A. Lived in Green Co., Va. 
Susan Jane, married William E. Jackson, Dec. 18, 1830. 
Hardin. 
James. 
Garrett. 
Joseph. 
Fountain. 
William. 



W. A. Gentry of Black's Ferry, Ky., a son of Hardin Gentry, 
writes that his grandfather, Aaron Gentry, moved to Tennessee, 



246 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

leaving his two oldest children married in Virginia. The others 
were reared in Tennessee. 



189. CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, of Albemarle Co., Va. 

(185) George III, James II. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1773, and afterwards settled 
in Albemarle. He married Sarah J. Dunn, Aug. 2, 1810. 



Children : 
Patsy, married Walton and had: Jesse Walton. 
Dicey, married Garret White, March 19, 1829. 
Polly, married Henry Via. 
Henry. 
Pascal. 

Betsie, married James Dunn, July 10, 1834. 
Frances, married Thomas Gibson, the father of Simeon 
A. Gibson of Nortonville, Va. 



190. GEORGE GENTRY, of Lincoln Co., Mo. 

(186) James IV, George III, James II. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va., about 1783; moved to Missouri in 
1828 and settled in Lincoln Co. He married Elizabeth Dunn, 
Nov. 1, 1808. 

Children : 

1. John, a preacher of the Christian church; had sons 

James, John, David, Nicholas, Everett and Benjamin, 
and Sarah F., who married True. 

2. James. 

3. Reuben. 

4. Bettie. 

5. George. 

6. Bickie. 



191. JAMES GENTRY, of Texas. 

(186) James IV, George III, James II. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va. He moved to Missouri and set- 



OTHER GENTRYS 247 

tied in Lincoln Co. for a while and then moved to Texas, where 
he died. 

Children : 

1. James, married Elizabeth Thomas and resides in Quincy, 

Mo. 

Children : 

a. William C. ; born Jan. 17, 1852; resides at Weaubleau, 

Hickory Co., Mo. 

b. John P.; b. Sept. 11, 1853; Weaubleau, Mo. 

c. Charles B. ; b. Sept. 10, 1855 ; Victor, Colo. 

d. Nadine E. ; b. Mch. 22, 1857; m. Estis. 

e. Robert N. ; born Jan. 13, 1861 ; Comargo, Okla. 
/. Martin E. ; born Dec. 5, 1862 ; Quincy, Mo. 

2. Charles Gentry; lives near Walder, Tex. 



192. JOHN GENTRY, of Green Co., Va. 

(186) James IV, George III, James II. 

Born in Albemarle Co., Va. ; died Dec. 30, 1857. He married 
Patsey Hicks, Nov. 25, 1801. Lived in Green Co., Va. 

Children : 

1. Fountain; married Ann Knight, Feb. 9, 1823. He 

moved to Missouri, where he died. 

Children : 

a. Isaac. 

b. George ; settled in Pennsylvania. 

c. B. Frank ; Rockingham Co., Va. 

d. Andrew ; Rockingham Co., Va. 

e. Silas ; lived in West Va. 

2. Austin, born in Green Co., Va., Oct. 11, 1809; died Aug. 

14, 1870; married Frances V. Naylor of Albemarle 
Co., Jan. 3, 1833. 

Children: 

a. Thomas ; d. in 1889. 

b. H. B. C. Gentry; b. Sept. 1, 1853; resides at Elkton, Va. 

3. John, married Carolina Douglass, Dec. 5, 1840, and 
lived in Green Co., Va. ; died about 1888. 



248 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Children: 

a. George; died 187 1 ; age 30 years. 

b. Dr. John M. ; practicing physician; Stoney Fork, Tioga 

Co., Pa. 

c. Dr. C. Clark; practicing physician in Hoytville, Tioga 

Co., Pa. 

d. William Benjamin; lives at the old homestead at Smithton, 

Va., on a part of the land owned by his great grand- 
father, James Gentry. 

4. James, married Luthana Sandridge, Nov. 6, 1845, lived 

in Rockingham Co., Va., and had: William and 
Henry. 

5. Elizabeth; died May 27, 1848. 



193. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Henrico Co., Va. 

This William is probably a brother of George Gentry (185) ; 
if not, he must be a close relative, judging from the names of 
his sons. He died on his estate in 1819. His wife was named 
Rebecca and judging from his will was very likely his second 
wife. He seems to have been well off in lands and slaves. 

Children : 

1. William. 

2. George. 

3. Polly, born Jan. 25, 1796; died Nov. 26, 1863; married 

Thornton C. Lipscomb, who was born Oct. 5, 1790, 
and died April 7, 1871. 

4. Thomas. 

5. Austin, born near Richmond, Va., July, 1809; died May, 

1867. He was a prominent tobacconist in Richmond, 
Va. ; a man of high standing and strict probity and 
honor ; married first, Sarah Winn Brown, May 10, 
1830 and had: Booth R., Sarah W., and Martha V., 
who married Leland Westley Butler, Oct. 15, 1857, of 
Caroline Co., Va. His family were honorable well-to- 
do farmers; they had: Valentine C, Austin, Virginia 
L., and Isaac L. He married second, Martha Ann 
Butler in Jan., 1840, and had: John William, Isaac 
A. and Charles W. Gentry, who married Kate Kenna, 



OTHER GENTRYS 249 

sister of the late Senator John E. Kenna. Mrs. 
Gentry and her daughters, Mrs. J. H. Gains and Miss 
Caroline Gentry still live in Charleston, West Va. 

6. David. 

7. Unborn child. 

His will, which is of record in Will Book No. 5, at Richmond, 
Va., is dated March II, 1818, and was probated July 5, 1819, 
makes bequests and reads as follows : 

" To sons William and George, and daughter Polly Lipscomb, I have 
given all I have intended they shall have, except when the child of which 
my wife is now pregnant shall be born and become of lawful age, a 
division is to take place among the children hereafter named. They are 
to receive $100.00 each and no more. To sons Thomas and Austin, I 
give my tract of land on Horse Pen Branch, and one negro each and 
$300,000 each, when they become of age. And to my son David, I give 
30 acres of land on which I live, one negro boy Ned, and $400.00 when 
he shall become of age; and to the child of which my wife is pregnant, 
when he becomes of age, 30 acres of land on which I live, and negro girl 
Louise and $400.00. To my wife Rebecca, I give negroes Alice and 
Paul, with privilege of my mansion and other houses, and remaining 
part of my lands during widowhood. And at the coming of age of 
unborn child, what remains to be divided between Thomas, Austin, 
David and unborn child." (Signed) William Gentry. 

He named Reuben Burton, Jacob Smith and William Jones, Adminis- 
trators. George Gentry was allowed fees for attending court in Henrico 
Co. as witness in 1799. Court ordered that George Gentry pay William 
Gentry $1.06 for two days at court as witness for him in case of Alex- 
ander Anderson, February, 1795. These two Gentrys, William and 
George, were probably sons of (184) James Gentry. 



194. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Lunenburg Co., Va. 

Bought land in Lunenburg Co., Va., in 1760 and sold the same 
in 1763, as shown by the County Records. Mrs. Rebecca Burch 
of Decatur, Ind., born in 1820, now deceased, stated in a letter to 
the writer that her grandfather, William Gentry, lived on the 
Roanoke River, in Lunenburg Co., Va., and that he sold his land 
for a bushel of Continental money, which proved to be worth- 
less. He had, she says, five or six children, most of whom set- 



250 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

tied in the western part of North Carolina. However, she only 
remembers the name of her father, Richard Gentry (195). 



195. RICHARD GENTRY, of Stokes Co., N. C. 

(194) William III. 

Born in Virginia April 30, 1773; died May 14, 1831 ; married 
April 19, 1796, Rebecca Lindsay Barrett at Louisa Court House, 
Va. He learned the saddlery business with John Lasley, in Rich- 
mond, Va., who was a Methodist preacher as well as a saddler. 
He moved to North Carolina in 1800 and settled in Stokes Co., 
on a farm on Huens Creek where he remained during the rest 
of his life and where his thirteen children were born and reared. 
His will is on record in Stokes Co., N. C, having been probated 
at the June term of court of that county in 1831. He willed his 
property to his wife, Rebecca and his eleven living children. 

Children : 

1. William B. (196), born March 20, 1797. 

2. Nancy, born Oct. 5, 1798; married Joseph Lasly and 

had : John, Mariah, Harriet, James, Francis and Re- 
becca. 

3. Eliza, born Sept. 20, 1800; married Benjamin Julivan 

and moved to Indiana in 1839, and had: William W., 
Ira J., Edwin Festelan, Maria Hortin, Frances Ann, 
Susan P., Martha Poland and Thomas P. 

4. James (197), born Sept. 2, 1802. 

5. Ira E. (198), born June 26, 1804. 

6. Harriet, born Dec. 20, 1806; married Absalom Baker 

and moved to Indiana. They had : Richard H., Nancy 
Rebecca, Harriet Jane, Margaret Malinda, Fannie 
Jones, William Barnett, Delia Pelina, Absalom H. and 
Thomas Robertson. 

7. Richard J. (199), born Dec. 5, 1808. 



For most of the information about the descendants of Richard 
Gentry (195) of Stokes Co., N. C, the writer is indebted to Richard's 
daughter, Mrs. Rebecca Burch, now deceased, of Stanford, Ind. She was 
78 years old when she last wrote me in 1900. 



OTHER GENTRYS 25 1 

8. Fannie, born Feb. 14, 1810; married Augburn in North 

Carolina. 

9. Joel A., born June 10, 1803 ; married Susan Vaughn and 

had son, John. 

10. Thomas P. (200), born Oct. 10, 1815. 

11. John Thornton (201). 

12. Rebecca L., born April 2 , 1820; married Henry Burch 

of Stanford, Ind., April 9, 1840. She and her mother 
moved to Stanford, Ind., from Rockingham Co., N. C, 
in 1839. Her mother died in 1858. She says her 
father's old Bible was left on the fire board in their old 
home when they moved to Indiana, and her brothers, 
Ira and Richard, bought the farm. 

Children : 

a. Sarah Ann ; m. Thomas G. Gardner. 

b. Demaries. 

c. Thomas Bradford; m. Samantha Hostetter. 

d. Gilbert Lafayette ; m. Nancy Ferguson. 

e. Almyra Jane. 

/. Frances Rebecca. 

g. Dennis Newton; m. Susan Miller. 

h. Marie Ettie; m. Joseph W. Thrasher. 

i. Henry Jasper; m. Nannie Cunningham. 

;'. Martin Luther. 

k. Sarah Harriet ; m. Sam PofTord. 

/. Ira Asberry ; m. Ida Creps. 

m. Nancy Matilda. 



196. WILLIAM BARNETT GENTRY, of Stokes Co., N. C 

Cigs) Richard IV, William III. 

Born March 20, 1797 ; married Jennie Carter in North Caro- 
lina. William died in Iowa and his wife died in Indiana. 

Children : 

1. Theodric. 

2. Richard Howard had three sons: Saul W., Ira and 

W. H. 

3. William Ellis. 

4. Joseph Wesley. 



252 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

5. Samuel Mallery. 

6. Charles Rice. 



197. JAMES GENTRY, of Stokes Co., N. C. 

(195) Richard IV, William III. 

Born Sept. 2, 1802, in North Carolina. 

Children : 

1. Richard Henry (202). 

2. John Wesley, married Eliza Thrasher. 

3. Nancy Emily.. 

4. Mary Ann, married John Morgan. 

5. William Burton. 

6. James Calvin, married Eliza Chambers. He was 

drowned in White River. 

7. Harriet, married Compton Jones. 

8. Minerva Jane, married John M. Mathews. 

9. Absalom, married Jennie Pofford. 



198. IRA ELLIS GENTRY, of Stokes Co., N. C. 

(195) Richard IV, William III. 

Born in 1804; married Elizabeth Vaughn in North Carolina. 
He was a well-to-do farmer, successful and popular. He was 
a Magistrate for thirty years, and at one time was Presiding 
Judge of the County Court of Stokes Co. He died at 89 years 
of age. Five of his sons were Southern soldiers in the Civil 
War. 

Children : 

1. William Haywood of Walnut Cove, N. C. ; was High 

Sheriff of Stokes Co. for 22 years ; afterwards Mayor 
of Walnut. N. C. ; had four sons and five daughters ; 
one son was assistant engineer on battleship Raleigh 
in the Spanish War at the battle of Manila. 

2. John Wesley, Kernersville, N. C. Five children. 

3. Harriet Jane. 

4. Ira. 



OTHER GENTRYS 253 

5. Sidney B., carpenter. Fourteen children. 

6. Raleigh, farmer. Five children, three sons, John J., 

Gaston and Thomas. 

7. Thomas B. 

8. Nancy G., married Joseph Lasley. 



199. RICHARD JONES GENTRY. 

(195) Richard IV, William III. 

Married Elizabeth Vaughn in Rockingham Co., N. C, near 
Gentry Post Office, where most of his descendants still live. 

Children : 

1. William Wesley. 

2. Thomas. 

3. Joseph. 

4. Elizabeth. 



200. THOMAS PINER GENTRY, of Indianapolis, Ind. 

(19s) Richard IV, William III. 

Born in Stokes Co., N. C. ; married Paulina Wright, moved 
to Indiana in 1839, settled in Indianapolis and engaged in the 
hotel business. Two of his daughters, the widows Compton, are 
still conducting the hotel business there. 



Children : 
Eliza Arnor. 
James Thomas. 
John Wesley. 
Joseph. 

Mary, married Compton. 
Margaret, married Aldridge. 
Isabel, married Burgg. 



201. JOHN THORNTON GENTRY. 

(195) Richard IV, William III. 

Born in Stokes Co., N. C, Oct. 26, 1821 ; died Jan. 14, 1873 > 
married Jane Shrives in Indiana and moved to Illinois. 



254 the gentry family in america 

Children : 



William. 

Mary. 

Hyannis Newton. Resides at Norton, Kan. 

Mack. Resides at Hyannes, Neb. 

Annie. 

Fannie. 

Jane. Resides at Carthage, 111.. 



202. RICHARD HENRY GENTRY, of Bloomington, Ind. 

(197) James V, Richard IV, William III. 

Born in Stokes Co., N. C, Sept. 23, 1825; moved to Indiana 
with his father when a child ; married Frances Umbarger. His 
sons became famous as the proprietors of the " Gentry Dog 
and Pony Shows." They were very successful and made a 
large amount of money. 

Children : 

1. Wallace. 

2. Henry. 

3. William. 

4. Frank. 

5. Lillie J., born Oct. 22, 1865. 

6. Jesse, born Sept. 21, 1880. 



203. RICHARD GENTRY, of Surry Co., N. C. 

His will was probated in Surry Co., N. C, in 181 1. He gave 
his property to bis wife and daughter, Mary Ashley. 



204. JOSEPH GENTRY, of Surry Co., N. C. 

He was probably the Joseph Gentry who bought land in Lu- 
nenburg Co., Va., in 1752, 1760 and 1761. All we know of him 
is from his will, which is on record in Surry Co., N. C, and 



OTHER GENTRYS 255 

bears date Nov. u, 1804. His services as a revolutionary soldier 
can be found in records of the Auditor's Office of the State of 
North Carolina. His legatees were named as his wife and the 
following sons and daughters: Shelton, Lemuel, Anne, Judith, 
Sarah and Lausana. 

The records of Lunenburg Co., Va., show that the following Gentrys 
purchased and sold lands in said county as follows: 

Brooks to Nicholas Gentry, June 4th, 1748 ; Minor to Joseph Gentry, 
Dec. 5, 1752; Embry to Hezekiah Gentry, July 6, 1757; Embry to David 
Gentry, July 6, 1757', Ray to William Gentry, July 12, 1760; Hezekiah 
Gentry to Allen Gentry, Apl. 6, 1761 ; William Gentry to Allen Gentry, 
Dec. 8, 1763; William Gentry to Atkinson, Dec. 5, 1763; Hanna to Joseph 
Gentry, 1760 ; Mason to Joseph Gentry, May 5, 1761 ; Nicholas Gentry 
to Drummond, Oct. 9, 1766. 



205. ALLEN A. GENTRY, of Halifax Co., Va. 

Born about 1730. His son, Meshack, made application for a 
pension in 1833 for services in Revolutionary War and stated 
in his application to the War Department that he was born in 
Louisa Co., Va. This statement is confirmatory of the author's 
opinion that the Gentrys of Lunenburg Co., Va., were young 
men from Louisa and Hanover counties. 

The vestry book of Cumberland Parish in Lunenburg Co., 
Va., mentions several Gentrys and among them Allen Gentry. 
The returns of the processioners of Precinct No. 14, March 
1, 1760, mentions the lands of Allen Gentry, and as present 
William and David Gentry; and on March 4, 1760, in Precinct 
No. 16, that Joseph and William were present at all three lines. 
Nicholas Gentry's lands are also mentioned. Allen and Joseph 
Gentry were housekeepers, for the Vestry credits Allen Gentry 
with 200 lbs. tobacco, on Oct. 30, 1761, for keeping Ann Nobles 
3 months, and in 1763, 600 lbs. tobacco for caring for Ann 
Nobles, and credits Joseph Gentry with 800 lbs. tobacco for 
keeping Stephen Crump. 

Halifax Co. was cut off from Lunenburg Co., and we find 
the will of Allen Gentry probated in Halifax Co., July 26, 1802. 
His wife was named Mary. 



256 the gentry family in america 

Children : * 

1. Shadrack (206). 

2. Meshack (211). 

3. Obednigo. Resided in Yadkin Co. 

4. Agnes, married Whitmore. 

5. Mary, married Andrew Buchanan. 

Will of Allen A. Gentry. 

In name of God amen. I, Allen Gentry of Halifax Co., and State of 
Virginia, and in perfect health, and in good memory, thanks be to 
God. Knowing that it is appointed for all men to die, do make this my 
last will and testament, that is to say; amply and first of all I give my 
soul to God who gave it hoping at the last day of judgment to receive 
the same in glory, and my body, I recommend it to the earth to be 
buried in Christian like and decent manner, at the discretion of my ex- 
ecutors, and as touching my worldly goods, wherewith God has blessed 
me, I leave and bequeath in the following manner and form to wit : 

I give to my wife, Mary Gentry, during her natural life or widowhood, 
all and singular my estate, real and personal, with all my household 
goods, and moveable effects, and after her decease or marriage in the 
manner following: Item: I give to my eldest son, Shadrack Gentry, of 
my estate one negro man named Jack to him and his heirs forever. 
Item: I give and bequeath unto my son, Meshack Gentry, one negro 
man named Toney, to him and his heirs forever. Item : I give and be- 
queath to my daughter Mary Buchanan one negro woman, Lucky, to her 
and her heirs forever. Item: I give to my grandson, Shadrack Gentry, 
Obednigo's son, one negro man, named Toby, and two negro women 
named Hanna and Amy, and two negro children, named Hanna and Enos, 
to him and his heirs forever, and it is my will and desire that Andrew 
Buchanan, should keep these five negroes with him at his own house, and 
that he will pay the earnings that they earn to Shadrack, my grand- 
son, and keep them together, after my decease, and my wife Mary's 
decease, until the heir comes of age and then deliver them and the earn- 
ings or the hire they have earned to the said heir. Item: I give to my 
daughter Agnes Whitmore, ten pounds of current money to be raised 
out of my estate. Item : I give and bequeath to my son Obednigo 
Gentry, ten pounds current money to be raised out of my estate. Item. 
It is my will and desire, and I do leave the rest of my movable property 



* Allen A. Gentry and the various county clerks and recorders, seem to 
have adopted a spelling of their own for the names of his sons ; calling 
them, Shadrack, Meshack and Obednigo; instead of following the Bible 
spelling of the names of the three friends of Daniel : Shadrach, Meshach 
and Abednego, whom Nebuchadnezzar threw into the fiery furnace. 



OTHER GENTRYS 257 

to be equally divided amongst my children — namely, Shadrack, Buchanan. 
Item. Andrew Buchanan and Shadrack Gentry executors. 

Allen A. Gentry. [Seal.] 
Dated, December 21, 1801. 



The three sons of Allen A. Gentry, Shadrack, Meshack and 
Obednigo, probably all remained in Halifax Co., Va., until 
about 1797, when Meshack bought 270 acres of land on Hunt- 
ing Creek, formerly in Surry Co., having sold out several hun- 
dred acres of land in Halifax Co. Their father, Allen A. 
Gentry, died in 1802, and Shadrack was made one of his ad- 
ministrators, and therefore remained in Virginia until after 
this time. In 1807 Obednigo bought 152^ acres of land located 
on the south waters of Deep Creek, formerly Surry Co., now 
Yadkin Co., and in 1836 he sold to Obednigo Gentry this same 
152^ acres, and to William Gentry 100 acres on the same creek. 
These two were probably his sons. From 1792 to 1807 ten 
Gentrys settled in old Surry Co., and most of them on the south 
side of the Yadkin River, in what is now Yadkin Co., and most 
of these are probably sons of Shadrack and Obednigo. Me- 
shack and his sons moved from North Carolina to Monroe 
Co., Term. There are a great many Gentrys living in North 
Carolina and scattered all over the country, who are descended 
from one or the other of these three brothers. No trace has 
"been found of Shadrack, the grandson of Allen A. Gentry, 
mentioned in his will. 

Nearly all of these North Carolina Gentrys were Baptists, 
and quite a number of them were preachers. 



206. SHADRACK GENTRY, of Halifax Co., Va. 

(205) Allen A. 

Born in Virginia about 1759. He was raised in Halifax Co., 
Va., and probably remained there until after his father's death 
in 1802, as he was one of his administrators. Only one of his 
children is known: Allen (207.) 



258 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

207. ALLEN GENTRY. of Wilkes Co., N. C. 

(206) Shadrack, Allen A. 

He was born in Halifax Co., Va ; bought lands in Yadkin Co., 
N. C, in 1799, but finally settled in Wilkes Co. and died there 
in 1824, as evidenced by his will, which was dated Oct. 16, 1824, 
and witnessed by William Douglas and Arthur Gentry. His 
wife was Elizabeth Waddell. He was a farmer and manufac- 
turer, and lived near Park's Post Office, N. C. 



Children : 

1. Mathew. His grandsons, Grandville, William A. and 

James, live in Wilkes Co., N. C. 

2. Jonathan (208). 

3. Nathan (209). 

4. Arthur. Had three sons and two daughters, who lived 

in Surry Co., N. C. 

5. Mary. 

6. Eliza. 



208. JONATHAN GENTRY, of Wilkes Co., N. C. 

(207) Allen, Shadrack, Allen A. 

Born about 1778, and died near Elkin, N. C, in 1852. He 
was a farmer and stock man, much noted for his fine horses. 
Married Sally Fender; his will dated March 31, 1852. 

Children : 

1. John. 

2. Wiley. His son, Allen, lives near Elkin, N. C, and 

W. R. Gentry, a grandson, lives in Wilkes Co., N. C. 

3. Allen. Has six daughters and three sons. One of 

them, Richard H. Gentry, lives at Hooker, N. C. 

4. Jonathan H. (210). 

5. Polly, married Lyon. 

6. Anna, married Johnson. 

7. Elizabeth, married Darnall. 

8. Katherine, married Candee. 



OTHER GENTRYS 259 

209. NATHAN GENTRY, of North Carolina. 

(207) Allen, Shadrack, Allen A. 

He lived in North Carolina. His wife was named Rebecca. 



Children : 

1. Calvin ; wife named Mary. They lived at Good-Spring, 

N. C. 

Children : 

a. U. M., Long Gap, N. C. 

b. Wiley, Long Gap, N. C. 

c. Joseph, Good Spring, N. C. 

d. Bryant. 

e. Eliza Jane Lyon, Hooker, N. C. 

f. Nancy E. Hodges, Hooker, N. C. 

g. Lydia Harris. 
h. Rebecca. 

2. U. M., Rocky Mount, Va. 

3. Jonathan, Tennessee. 

4. Alfred, married first, Betsey Branock; second, Rebecca 

Rigons. 

5. G. W., Mt. Ary, N. C. ; married Louzina Branock. 



210. JONATHAN H. GENTRY, of Parks, N. C. 

(208) Jonathan, Allen, Shadrack, Allen A. 

Born in Wilkes Co., N. C, August, 1812 and died at his 
residence at Parks Post Office November, 1876. He was a 
farmer, a very devoted Baptist, and spent much time in church 
work. Married Jemima Spisa in 183 1, a daughter of William 
Spisa, a Revolutionary soldier. 

Children : 
1. Joseph Findley, born Dec. 5, 1822; lived near Parks 
Post Office, where he was born ; married Rhoda Caro- 
line, Dec. 16, 1858. He was a farmer. He served 
three years in the Confederate Army. 



260 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Children : 





a. Monroe. 




b. Jorah Jane. 




c. Olivia. 




d. Joseph Finley 




e. Jones N. 


2. 


Sarah. 


3- 


Newton. 


4. 


Hardin. 



211. MESHACK GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Tenn. 

(205) Allen A. III. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., 1761 ; died in Monroe Co., Tenn., 
1833. He bought land in Surry Co., N. C, but soon after 
moved to Tennessee. 

He made application for a pension Aug. 29, 1836, in which 
he stated that he lived in Monroe Co., Tenn. ; that he was 
born in Louisa Co., Va. ; that he was appointed Captain of a 
company of mounted riflemen at Caswell Court House, in North 
Carolina, November, 1779, under Colonel Fifer; that he was in 
the battles of ' Rugley's Mill/ ' Hanging Rock,' and ' Eutau 
Springs,' and that he served two years. His application was 
rejected for want of sufficient proof. 



Children : 
Allen D. 
Jourdan. 

Pleasant F. (212). 
Francis. 
Susan. 
Nancy. 



212. PLEASANT F. GENTRY, of Owen Co., Ky. 

(211) Meshack, Allen A. 

Born in Lunenburg Co., Va., in 1782; died June 10, 1859; 
married Lucy Almitt. He went to Tennessee as a young man 
with his father, but in 1809 moved to Owen Co., Ky., near 
New Liberty, and settled on a farm. He served as a soldier in 



OTHER GENTRYS 26l 

the War of 1812 under General Jackson and was seriously 
wounded at the battle of New Orleans. 

He returned from the war, commenced farming and stock 
raising and was quite successful. He accumulated a large landed 
estate and owned many slaves. He was a very religious man and 
was a Deacon in the Baptist Church until his death. He was 
a man of the highest character and strictest integrity. 



Children : 
John T. (213), born June 13, 1805. 
Allen (214), born Sept. 18, 1816. 
Polly. 

Nancy, born May 5, 181 1; married Morrow. 

Mahala. 
Elizabeth.. 



213. JOHN T. GENTRY. 

(212) Pleasant F., Meshack, Allen A. 

Born June 13, 1805; died Dec. 12, 1845; married first, Kittie 
Webster; second, her sister, Elizabeth. 



Children : 

Reuben (215), born Aug. 23, 1828. 

Nancy. 

Lucy. 

Malinda. 

Allen T. (216), born April, 1837. 

Pleasant E., born March 3, 1843. He had: Charles E., 
born Oct. 31, 1868; Low, Bettie, Lillie, Mattie, Ed- 
die P. and Archer. 



214. ALLEN GENTRY, of Owen Co., Ky. 

(212) Pleasant V, Meshack IV, Allen A. III. 

Born Sept. 18, 1816; died Sept. 16, 1898; married Nancy 
E. Riley, Nov. 7, 1839. 



262 the gentry family in america 

Children : 

1. John T., (218), born Nov. 1, 1846; married Bettie 

Ewing and had sons : William C. and Edward P. 

2. Allen, born May 17, 1849; died June 25, 1895; married 

Mary E. Reed, Nov. 12, 1869, and had: 

a. Lula F., b. Nov. 26, 1870. 

b. Nellie P., b. Apl. 25, 1875. 

3. Lucy Frances, born April 4, 1843; died Oct. 8, 1856. 



215. REUBEN GENTRY, of New Liberty, Ky. 

(213) John T. VI, Pleasant V, Meshack IV, Allen A. III. 

Born Aug. 23, 1828; married Pauline Baker; residence, New 
Liberty, Ky. 

Children : 
1. Alcester, born April 26, 1853 ; died Feby. 20, 1881. 



Laurena, born Dec. 4, 1863. 
Robert T. (217), born Aug. 18, 1865. 
Cooper, born April 7, 1869. 
Marcus C, born July 15, 1872. 
Scottie, born Sept. 8, 1874. 
Nannie, born Dec. 31, 1876. 



216. ALLEN T. GENTRY. 

(213) John T. VI, Pleasant V, Meshack IV, Allen A. III. 

Born April 27, 1837; married Nannie Bates and lives at 
Wheatley, Ky. 

Children : 

1. Minnie Jones, born Dec. 18, 1870. 

2. Willie T., born Feby. 20, 1874. 



217. ROBERT T., Sonora, Ky. 

C215) Reuben VII, John T. VI, Pleasant V, Meshack IV, Allen A. III. 

Born Aug. 18, 1865, at New Liberty, Ky. ; married Matilda 



OTHER GENTRYS 263 

Spanger, April 16, 1891 ; residence Sonora, Hardin Co., Ky. 
Is cashier of the bank of Sonora. His child is : Emmett, born 
Jan. 31, 1892. 



218. JOHN T, GENTRY, Worthville, Ky. 

(214), Allen VI, Pleasant V, Meshack IV, Allen A. III. 

Born, Nov. 1, 1846; married Bettie Ewing, Nov. 2, 1869. 

Children : 

1. Cora, born Aug. 30, 1870. 

2. Willie C, born Oct. 20, 1872. 

3. Nannie B., born Jan. 18, 1877 ; married Will R. Morgan. 

4. Edward P., born Dec. 4, 1878. 

5. Emma L., born Feby. 21, 1882. 



219. JAMES GENTRY, of Guilford Co., N. C. 

Born in Virginia about 1735 ; he settled in Guilford Co., N. 
C. His wife is said to have been Sarah Ann Claiborne. In one 
of the old deed books of Hanover Co., Va., preserved from 
fire, is the record of a deed to land in Hanover Co., Va., made 
by James Gentry and Sarah, his wife, of Guilford Co., North 
Carolina, dated 1783. He was drowned in the Yadkin river 
about 1783. 

Children : 

1. Elsie, born about 1765; died in 1849; married Samuel 

Seward and moved to the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
about 1790. She reared eight sons and two daughters. 
One son was named Martin Gentry Seward. Mrs. 
Viola Seward Nourse of Covington, Ky., and Rose 
Gentry Pendery of Wyoming, Ohio, are descendants 
of Mrs. Elsie Gentry Seward. 

2. Claiborne Gentry, born in 1761. He acquired land from 

the state in Old Surry Co., N. C, in 1779. He was 
allowed a pension on his application, executed Feb. 
8. 1833, at which time he stated he was a resident of 
Davidson Co., Tenn., and was seventy-two years of 



264 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

age. He stated that he resided in Terry Co., N. C, 
at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, when he 
enlisted and served in Captain Martin's Company, 
Col. Armstrong's Regiment of North Carolina troops, 
for four months. He enlisted the following August 
and served four months in Capt. William T. Lewis' 
Company and was in the battle of Shallow Ford, 
Yadkin River. He later served nine months in Capt. 
Henry Smith's Company, Col. Armstrong's Regiment, 
following which he enlisted, served to the end of 
the war in Capt. Sharp's Company of the 23rd N. 
C. Regiment and was present at the surrender of 
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Survivor's File No. 
3,391, Pension Office. 

3. Sarah, married John Ball, a wealthy man and a large 

slave owner. He moved to Missouri from Kentucky 
before the Civil War. 

4. Lucy, married Mathew Markland, in North Carolina 

in 1786, and lived on his farm for about eighteen 
years. It was situated in Guilford Co., N. C, on the 
Yadkin River, near the mouth of Muddy Creek, and 
near the town of Clemmonstown, N. C. Her father 
was drowned in trying to cross the Yadkin River; 
this occurred before his children were all grown and 
must have been about 1785. She moved with her 
husband to Madison Co., Ky., in 1804 and lived four 
miles west of Richmond, where she died in 1807, 
and was buried at the Old Green's Chapel Meeting 
House. 

Children : 

a. William. 

b. Levi. 

c. Nancy. 

d. Mathew. 

Levi and Nancy both lived in Boonville, Mo., in 1835. 

5. Mary, married either a Wright or a Hill and lived in 

Lexington, Ky. 

6. Fannie, born Dec. 26, 1762 ; married Martin Green, who 

was born Sept. 22, 1762. He lived in Harrison Co., 



OTHER GENTRYS 265 

Ky., not very far from Paris, Ky. They had a son, 
Martin Gentry Green, a splendid man, who reared a 
large family in Kentucky ; also William, Lucy, John 
and Stephen. These last four settled near Roanoke, 
Mo., and reared large families. Fannie Gentry Green 
died in Kentucky at 93 years of age. 

Katie Gentry, daughter of Bartlett Gentry and granddaughter of Robert 
Gentry of Jefferson Co., Tenn., married Wesley Green who reared a 
family near Sparta, Tenn. He was a nephew of Diah Green, a Revolu- 
tionary soldier who lost a leg in the war. 



220. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Davidson Co, Tenn. 

He had moved to Davidson Co., Tenn. with his family in 
1782 and was still living in forts near where Nashville now 
stands. The family tradition says that Nicholas and his 
oldest son were caught outside the fort by the Indians and 
killed. Hayward's History of Tennessee, page 219, mentions 
the names of seventy persons still living in Davidson Co., at 
this time, in 1782, and it also gives the names of sixty-three 
persons who had been killed in defense of Davidson Co., and 
among them is mentioned Nicholas Gentry. The legislature of 
North Carolina passed an act in 1784, granting to the heirs of 
each person so killed 640 acres of land without price. 

He has a large number of descendants in Texas to-day and 
his grandsons took part with Texas in her war with Mexico. 

In 1784, the records of Davidson Co. show an inventory of 
the property of Nicholas Gentry filed by Mayfield, his admin- 
istrator. In 1797, a grant or deed perfecting the title to the 
640 acres of land to the children of Nicholas Gentry was put 
on record, showing that the land they received was situated on 
Brown's Creek, adjoining the City of Nashville on the south and 
east. This grant also mentions his heirs as follows : 

Children : 
1. George. 
2. Nicholas, (221). 
r Samuel. 



266 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

John Gentry and James Boyd are also mentioned as heirs; 
it is supposed these last named are his grandchildren. 



221. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Washington Co., Texas. 

(220) Nicholas. 

He lived in Williamson Co., Tenn., until 1835, when he moved 
to Texas and located in Washington Co., where he died in a 
few years. He was an extensive land and slave owner ; married 
first, Miss Browder; second, Mary Nunn. 

Children, by first wife: 

1. Elizabeth, married Wilson Winn, of Tennessee. 

2. George W., (222). 

3. Frederick B., (223). 

4. Carolina. 

Children, by second wife : 

5. Louisa. 

6. Amanda. 

7. Thomas. 

8. William N. ; resides at Norton, Texas. 

9. James R. 



222. GEO. W. GENTRY, of Comanche, Texas. 

(221) Nicholas IV, Nicholas III. 

Born in 1808, in Williamson Co., Tenn. He moved to Brun- 
ner, Tex., in 1835. He was a soldier in the Florida War in 
1837, also took part in the Mexican War with Texas and 
fought for the independence of Texas. He remained on his 
father's old place in Washington Co., Texas until 1882, and then 
moved to Comanche, Texas, where he died Jan. 5, 1883. He 
was a large stock raiser and farmer and at one time was quite 
well off. He married ; first, Jane Smiley, of Cooper Co., Mo., in 
1848; and second, Martha Spratt of Tennessee in i860. 

; Children : 

1. Marv. 



OTHER GENTRYS 267 

2. Ophelia, married R. V. Neely, of the Neely, Harris, Cun- 

ningham Co., of Comanche, Texas. No children. 

3. Cora. 

4. Sarah E., married Hardy, Waco, Texas. 

5. Frederick, of Comanche, Texas. 



223. FREDERICK B. GENTRY, of Hamilton Co., Tex. 

(221) Nicholas IV, Nicholas III. 

Born Jan. 10, 1810, in Tennessee; died in Hamilton Co., 
Texas, April 18, 1877. He came from Tennessee in 1835 and 
took up arms for Texas against Mexico in 1836. He was in 
the battle of San Jacinto and was present when Gen. Santa- 
Anna was captured and brought before Gen. Samuel Houston. 
He married Rebecca Barnett, Oct. 28, 1840. 

Children : 

1. Elizabeth. 

2. Augusta. 

3. George Nicholas, (224). 

4. Emily. 

5. Eliza. 



224. GEORGE NICHOLAS GENTRY, Hamilton, Tex. 




(223) Frederick B. V, Nicholas IV, Nicholas III. 


Born 


in Washington Co., Texas, August 29, 1845 ; married 


Clementine Snow in Jan., 1865 ; married second, Sarah Day. 




Children, by first wife: 


1. 


Mary C 


2. 


Lee. 




Children, by second wife : 


3- 


Ora. 


4- 


Ida. 


5- 


Nicholas. 


6. 


Loss. 



225. SAMUEL GENTRY, of Surry Co., N. C 

Born in Lunenburg Co., or perhaps back in Louisa Co., Va. 
It cannot be ascertained who his father was. He lived in 
Surry Co., N. C, prior to 1809, about which time he moved to 



268 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Kentucky, where he died. He was a Baptist preacher and 
married three times. In 1802, Surry Co., records show that 
Samuel Gentry bought land from Levi Savage, 100 acres, on 
Dill's Creek, and in 1803, 50 acres from Henry Speer. 

The Surry Co. records also show land entries and purchases 
in the names of several of his sons. Arthur, Shelton and 
Mathew, each appear as land owners from 1792 to 1804. All 
the eight sons of Samuel Gentry seem to have moved from North 
Carolina to Indiana and settled in Spencer and Warwick count- 
ies, between 1818 and 1825, except Joseph who settled in Ohio 
Co., Ky. 

These Gentrys have greatly increased in number in Warwick 
and Spencer Cos., Ind. 

Children, by first marriage: 

1. James, (226). 

2. Mathew (227). 

3. Joseph, (228). 

4. Agnes. 

5. George. 

Children, by second marriage : 

a. Nicholas. 

b. Washington. 

6. Arthur. 

7. Thomas. 

8. Shelton, a Baptist preacher, had a son, Jesse. 

Children, by third marriage: 

9. Samuel, had a son, Allen. 



226. JAMES GENTRY, of Gentryville, Ind. 

(225) Samuel. 

Born about 1780; left his father's home in North Carolina 
before he was grown and found employment in Kentucky ; mar- 
ried Elizabeth Hornbeck, in Mercer Co., Ky., in 1803. In 
1816, he moved to Spencer Co., Ind., and settled near the pres- 
ent town of Gentryville, which was named for him. He was a 
man of great energy, good judgment and accumulated a 
large fortune. He at one time owned 5,000 acres of land in 
Spencer Co., Ind. He lived before the days of railroads in 




James Gentry 



OTHER GENTRYS 269 

his country and markets were a long way off. From 1820 to 
1830, Mr. Gentry loaded a large flat boat with farm products 
each winter, and sent it down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers 
to New Orleans. In 1816 the parents of young Abraham Lin- 
coln came from Kentucky and settled on a farm adjoining that 
of Mr. Gentry. The Lincolns were very poor farmers and con- 
sequently unsuccessful. Young Abraham was frequently em- 
ployed as a farm hand by his neighbor, James Gentry; the rail 
splitting for which he has been noted was done for Mr. Gentry 
on his farm. In the year 1829 young Lincoln was employed as 
an oarsman on the flat boat, loaded with farm products and 
sent to New Orleans that year by Mr. Gentry, in charge of his 
sons Allen and Joseph. In 1830 the Lincolns moved from In- 
diana to Illinois and after breaking up their home and making 
a start, they spent the first night on their journey with their 
neighbor and friend James Gentry. 

Children : 

1. Mathew, born in 1806. President Lincoln wrote a poem 
on Mathew Gentry in 1846 and enclosing it to his 
friend, Johnston, wrote : " He is three years older than 
I, and we went to school together. He was rather a 
bright lad, and the son of the rich man of a very poor 
neighborhood. At the age of nineteen he unaccounta- 
bly became furiously mad, from which condition he 
gradually settled down into harmless insanity. I vis- 
ited my old home in 1844 and found him still lingering 
in this wretched condition. In my poetising mood, I 
could not forget the impression his case made upon 
me." Abraham Lincoln, by Nicolay & Hay, Vol. 1, 
pp. 87-88. 

2. Allen, had: James, Polk, Absalom, born Sept. 7, 1830; 

married Eliza M. Snyder. 

3. Agnes. 

4. Hannah. 

5. Joseph. Sons: James, Jacob, Allen, John and Joseph. 

6. Sarah. 

7. James, (229) ; born 1819. 

8. Elizabeth. 



270 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

227. MATHEW GENTRY, of Indiana. 

(22 s) Samuel. 

Born about 1782; lived in Surry Co., N. C, and moved to 
Warwick Co., Ind., about 1822, where he settled and reared a 
large family. 

Children : 

1. William. 

2. James. 

3. Mathew. 

4. Samuel. 

5. Thomas. 



228. JOSEPH GENTRY, of Ohio Co., Ky. 

(225) Samuel. 

Came from North Carolina as a youth with a party of sur- 
veyors and never returned ; married Rhoda Thomas and set- 
tled in Ohio Co., Ky., where he became wealthy in lands and 
slaves. He was born in 1776 and died in 1855. 

Children : 

1. Massie. 

2. Samuel, (230). 

3. James. 

4. Benjamin. 

5. Joseph. 



229. JAMES GENTRY, of Spencer Co., Ind. 

(226) James, Samuel. 

Born in Spencer Co., Ind., near Gentryville, Feby. 14, 1819; 
died May 3, 1905 ; married Eliza Montgomery, Nov. 7, 1839. 
He was a large farmer and stockraiser, very successful and 
enterprising. He was a man of superior intelligence and a leader 
in his community. He accumulated quite a fortune which he 
left his family. He still owned among his lands the small tract 
known as the Lincoln farm, where the great President and his 
family once lived. 



OTHER GENTRYS 27 1 

Mr. Gentry was greatly interested in all public matters; he 
was generous, wise and courageous, and always sought the 
general good. He represented his county in the state legisla- 
ture from 1870 to 1873 ; he was a strong Democrat and his 
home was headquarters in his part of the state for all the big 
politicians, such as Hendricks, Turpie, and Gov. Willard. 

He attended the Gentry Family Reunion at Crab Orchard in 
Kentucky in 1898, and also at Meramec Highlands, in Missouri 
in 1899. He was a good type of the old Gentrys ; his square 
build, his sturdy, robust nature, his kind heart, and family love, 
made a favorable impression with all who met him. 

There are large numbers of Gentrys in Spencer and Warwick 
counties in Indiana, and other parts of the state ; most of them 
are descended from Mr. James Gentry's grandfather, Samuel 
Gentry, who once lived in North Carolina and was very likely 
a son of one of the six Lunenburg Co. Gentrys who settled there 
about 1760. 

Children : 

1. Allen, born 1842; married Cordie Wilkinson; lives at 

Rockport, Ind. 

2. Robert. 

3. Elizabeth, married A. S. Wright. 

4. Liza, married W. T. Bullock. 

5. James Wayne, born May 29, 1848; married Sarah Lit- 

tlepage, Rockport, Ind. 

Children : 

a. Delia. 

b. Helen. 

c. James Allen. 

6. Agnes. 



230. SAMUEL GENTRY, of Ohio Co.. Ky. 

(228) Joseph V, Samuel IV. 

Born near Fordsville, Ohio Co., Ky., March 1, 1804; died 
in same county, March, 1865. He was a farmer and stock 
trader. He married Doris Miller. 



2"J2 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



I. 


Children : 
John, lives at Cromwell, Ohio Co., Ky., and was born 
Sept. 27, 1834; married Clara Duke, May 10, 1861. 




Children : 

a. John C. 

b. Mary W. 

c. Love S. 

d. Richard E. 


2. 

3- 

4- 

5- 
6. 


Rhoda. 

Patterson. 

Agnes. 

Allen. 

Alberta. 



231. NICHOLAS GENTRY, of Ashe Co., N. C. 

Born Oct. 12, 1768, in what was then Surry Co., N. C. ; died 
about 1858; married Sarah Sparks, July 8, 1790. She was 
born Feby. 27, 1771. At that time the portion of Surry Co. in 
which he lived, had been cut off and made into Wilkes Co., 
N. C, and Ashe was cut off of Wilkes in 1799. He had a 
brotherWllliam who married Ann Padgett, and lived near Chat- 
tanooga. Tenn. The Louisa Co. records of Virginia show that 
Lewis Padgett married Elizabeth Gentry, Jan. 16, 181 1. 

Children : 

1. James, (232). 

2. Richard, (233). 

3. Andrew S. P., born May 26, 1796. 

4. Levi, (234). 

5. Elizabeth, born March 11, 1801 ; married James Smith. 

6. Mary, born April 13, 1804, married James Richardson. 

7. Allen, (235). 

8. Sarah, born March 2, 1815, married Wm. Turner. 



232. JAMES GENTRY, of Ashe Co., N. C 

(231) Nicholas IV. 

Born Nov. 28, 1792; married Dixon and lived in Ashe 

Co., N. C. 





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M 




'LL, 




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^H 







Colonel Allen Gentry 



other gentrys 273 

Children : 

1. Theresa, married George W. Reynolds. 

2. Emily, married Thomas Reynolds, brother of Geo. W. 

3. Sarah, married James Plummer. 

4. Nicholas, S. P. killed in battle of Bristol Station. 

5. Richard, S. P. killed in battle of Seven Pines. 

6. Mary, married Ambrose Barker. 

7. Nancy, married Frank Scott, of Alleghany Co. N. C. 



233. RICHARD GENTRY, of Ashe Co., N. C. 

(231) Nicholas IV. 

Born Sept. 29, 1794, in Wilkes Co., N. C. ; married Miss 
Herbert. He was a Baptist Preacher; for forty years in suc- 
cession clerk of the county court of Ashe Co., N. C. He repre- 
sented his county in the legislature in 1819. His fine estate was 
known as " Old Fields ", N. C. 

Children : 

1. Amanda, married Adolphus Rousseau of Wilkes Co. 

2. James M. (236), married Mary Faw. 

3. Capt. Wm. H., married Martha Needham. He was 

twice clerk of the circuit court of Ashe County and 
generally held some public office in the county. He 
was a captain in the Confederate army. 

4. Emeline, married Nathan Waugh. 



234. LEVI GENTRY, of Ashe Co., N. C. 

(231) Nicholas IV. 

Born March 19, 1798; married Nancy Plummer; was a 
farmer. 

Children : 

1. Andrew, S. P.; married Miss Howell; killed at Gettys- 

burg. 

2. John, married Mary Reeves ; lives on the old homestead 

and is a farmer. 

3. Sarah, married Rufus Wood. 



274 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

4. Joseph, S. P. 

5. Amanda, married first, John Plummer; second, William 

Miller. 

6. Levi, S. P.; killed in Civil War. 



235. COL. ALLEN GENTRY, of Alleghany Co., N. C. 

(231) Nicholas IV. 

Born Oct. 28, 1807; married Rebecca Reeves, about 1830; 
died Oct. 8, 1862 ; was a farmer and merchant in Alleghany 
County, N. C. He held many offices of trust and of a public 
nature ; was clerk of the county court many years. Alleghany 
County was taken from Ashe County in 1856. He served three 
terms in the state legislature from Alleghany County and was 
also Colonel of the Alleghany County Militia. 

Children : 

1. Capt. George W., (237); born 1831; S. P. 

2. Cynthia, born 1832 in Grayson Co., Va. ; married James 

H. Parks ; lives at Sparta. N. C. 

3. Dr. Levi Clinton, S. P., (238). 

4. Sarah, married Judge G. W. Cornette; lives at Ursus, 

Virginia. 

5. Martha, married J. B. Daughton; lives at Sparta, N. C. 

6. David Reed, S. P., (239) ; died in 1872. 

7. Richard Cleveland, married Alice Connoly; lives at 

Sparta, N. C. 

8. Ellen, married William Hardin ; lives at Sparta, N. C. 



236. JAMES M. GENTRY, of Johnson Co., Tenn. 

(233) Richard V, Nicholas IV. 

Born in Ashe County, N. C. ; died about 1885. in Johnson 
City, Tenn., where he removed soon after the Civil War. He 
was a merchant and represented the county in the lower house 
of the legislature at the beginning of the Civil War; married 
Mary Faw. He was well to do before the Civil War; owned 
13 negroes. He was anxious to get to farming and have his 



OTHER GENTRYS 275 

negroes earn him a living, so he sold out his town property for 
confederate bonds and in a few years his slaves were freed, 
leaving him but little property. He was a devout Methodist. 

Children : 

1. Richard N., died in 1885, single. 

2. William T., died Nov. 26, 1897, single. 

3. Sarah L., married James I. Cash ; lives at Maryville, 

Tenn. Son, Gentry Cash. 



237. CAPTAIN GEORGE W. GENTRY, Stevensville, Tex. 

(235) Col. Allen, Nicholas. 

Born in 1831, in Grayson Co., Va. ; married Caroline Whit- 
more; lives at Stevensville, Texas. He was a Cavalry Captain 
in the Southern Army, promoted from a private for gallantry. 

Children : 

1. Laura, married Thorton. 

2. Dee. 

3. Ora, married Hale. 



238. DR. LEVI CLINTON GENTRY, of Crumpler, N. C 

(235) Col. Allen, Nicholas. 

Born March 8, 1834, in Grayson Co., Va. ; married Mae Ham- 
ilton, March 19, 1867. She was born on Beaver Creek, N. G, 
March 29, 1847 ; he died at his home near Crumpler, N. C. in 
1900. He was at New York City attending medical lectures 
when the war broke out; he left for home at once and joined 
the 26th North Carolina Regiment, was commissioned a lieu- 
tenant and served until the battle of Gettysburg, when he was 
taken prisoner and kept on Johnson's Island, Ohio until Lee's 
surrender. He then returned home and commenced the practice 
of medicine which he followed until a few years before his 
death. He served one term in the state legislature from his 
county. 



276 the gentry family in america 

Children : 

1. Baretta Elvira, born at Jefferson, N. C, Jan. 27, 1868; 

died at Old Town, Va., April 27, 1892; married Dr. 
Fountain B. Witherow, May 20, 1891. 

2. Lavinia Rebecca, born Jan. 20, 1869, at Jefferson, N. 

C. ; married Ansin Rogers Vail, June 8, 1891. 

3. Myrtle, born at Jefferson, N. C, Sept. 25, 1871 ; married 

Walter Henry Calhoun, Jr., at Walnut Hill, N. C, 
Sept. 19, 1895, and had: Walter Henry and Miss 
Gentry. 

4. Leta Mae, born Jan. 3, 1879. 



239. DAVID REED GENTRY of Sparta, N. C. 

(235) Col. Allen, Nicholas. 

Born at Sparta, N. C, in 1843; killed in Civil War; married 
Sudema Thomas and had two children : 

1. Thomas Allen, resides at Durango, Colo. 

2. Louisa, married Judge Padgett. 



240. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Born in Old Surry Co., N. C. ; died before the Civil War 
near Chattanooga, Tenn., where he lived and reared his family. 
He is said to be a brother of Nicholas Gentry (231) of Ashe Co., 
N. C. ; he married three times, first Gracey Ann Padgett, and 
had: 

Children, by first wife: 

1. Ephraim, born in Surry Co., N. C, in 1804; died at 

Peach, N. C, 1865; married Nancy Greer, and had: 
John, Wm. F., Aquilla, and Mary C. 

2. David, died either in Wise Co., Va., or in Kentucky. 

3. William, lived in Georgia before the Civil War. 

4. Richard, lived near Chattanooga, Tenn., before the war. 

5. Rachel, married Thomas Duval of Ashe Co., N. C. 

6. Philip, died in Taylorville, Tenn., in 1857. 

Children, by second wife: 

7. Simon. 



OTHER GENTRYS 277 



8. John. 

9. Unknown. 



241. RICHARD GENTRY, of Rock Castle Co., Ky. 

Born in Lunenburg Co., Va., Dec. 27, 1755; died Feb. 13, 
1836; married Gestin, daughter of Ayers Hedgepeth, Oct. 27, 
1793. The following data is from the Pension files at Washing- 
ton City: Widow's file No. 8844: "Richard Gentry was al- 
lowed pension on application executed Sept. 12, 1832, at which 
time he was a resident of Rock Castle Co., Ky. He stated that 
he was born in Lunenburg Co., Va., Dec. 27, 1755 and resided 
in Union District, near Tiger River, South Carolina when he 
enlisted in 1780 as a private in Captain Vardery Magby's Com- 
pany, under Colonels James Cotton and Sevier, served six 
months and was discharged after the battle of King's Mountain ; 
enlisted three months later, under same captain and Col. Cotton, 
was in the siege of '96, after which he was discharged; also 
served the same captain in pursuit of Tories at different times, 
amounting to seven months." " It is further alleged that Richard 
Gentry married in Surry Co., North Carolina, Oct. 27, 1793, 
Gestin, daughter of Ayers Hedgepeth. Soldier died in Rock 
Castle Co., Ky., Feby. 13, 1836, and his widow was allowed pen- 
sion on an application executed Nov. 25, 1839, at which time she 
was 70 years of age and a resident of Rock Castle Co., Ky." 

Children : 

1. David, (242), born April 15, 1797; died Jan. 31, 1836. 

2. John H. 

Children : 

a. James. 

b. Archie 

c. George C. ; lives in Paris, 111. 

3. Betsey. 

4. Richard. 

5. Othaniel, born 1812 ; married in Indiana in 1838; had 

three sons and five daughters. 

a. John O., Colfax, Iowa. 



278 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

b. James R., b. in 1845; resides at Oskaloosa, Iowa; and 
has John H., Frank P., and Lula B. 



242. DAVID GENTRY, of Rockcastle Co., Ky. 

(241) Richard. 

Born in Rockcastle Co., Ky., April 15, 1797; died Jan. 31, 
1836; married Rebecca Jones in 1818. 

Children : 
1. John, (243). 
William S. 
Mary Ann. 
Wesley. 
Eliza. 
Sally. 



243. JOHN GENTRY, of Rockcastle Co., Ky. 

(242) David, Richard. 

Born Dec. 12, 1819; died Sept., 1891 ; married Fanny Price, 
Feby. 22, 1844. 

Children : 

1. Henry Clay, born Feby. 23, 1845; married Rebecca 
Tyree, Dec. 14, 1865; resides at Mt. Vernon, Ky. 

Children : 

a. Meshack. 

b. George W., b. Nov. 25, 1871 ; m. Eliza Putnam and had : 

Richard W., Encit R., and Fred L. 

c. J. W. 

d. Jesse Tyree, b. Dec. 23, 1878. 

e. J. B. 

f. Jacob W. 

g. Henry Clay, b. June 2, 1886. 

2. George Washington, born March 27, 1854; married 

Sarah Tylre. 

Children : 
a. Andrew J., b. July 2, 1876. < 



OTHER GENTRYS 279 



b. Fannie B., b. May 6, 1878. 

c. Rosa J., b. March 26, 1880. 

d. Lucy V., b. Oct. 9, 1882. 

e. Celia V., b. Nov. 15, 1884. 
/. Thomas G., b. Aug. 15, 1886. 
g. Charles D., b. June 21, 1894. 



244. GADDIS GENTRY, of Hanover Co., Va. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., about 1762; died July 29, 1827. 
In an application for a pension on file in Washington, D. C, 
marked Widow's file No. 7512 it is alleged that Gaddis Gentry- 
was a resident of Hanover Co., when he enlisted and that he 
served three terms as a private shortly before the siege of York- 
town, as follows: under Maj. McGill, two months; under Dekla- 
wan, two months ; and under Col. John Taylor, three months. 

He married March 29, 1786, Martha or Patsey Thatcher. His 
widow was allowed pension on an application executed May 7, 
1843, at which time she was about J J years of age and a resi- 
dent of Hanover Co., Va. 



Children : 
Robert (245), born May 8, 1787. 
William. 
Hobson. 
Turner. 
Temple. 
Maria. 
Lucy. 



245. ROBERT GENTRY, of Hanover Co., Va. 

(244) Gaddis IV. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., May 8, 1787; died November, 
185 1 ; married Polly Marks, born April 12, 1791. John T. Chap- 
pell of Richmond, Va., a grandson of Robert Gentry, furnished 
this data from the old family Bible. 

Children : 
1. Robert Harvey, born June 26, 1814. 



280 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

2. Martha Ann, born Nov. i, 1815; married William Car- 

ter and still lived at Meltons, Va., in 1904. Their 
son, Charles Carter, born June 15, 1842, married Jen- 
nie O'Neal and had: Nora, Ormand, Harriet, Eu- 
gene, John, Charles and James. 

3. Addison Franklin, born June 5, 1813; was living at 

Frederick's Hall, Va., in 1900. He left no living 
issue. 

4. Eliza Buckner, born June 20, 1820; married Chappell. 

Their son, John T. Chappell, lives in Richmond, Va. 

5. Elisha, born Oct. 20, 1822 ; died young. 

6. Mary Elizabeth, born June 4, 1825. 

7. Uriah Wilkinson, born July 29, 1827. 

8. Charles Dabney, born Sept. 16, 1829. 

9. Caroline, born Oct. 20, 1831 ; died young. 

10. Harriet Frances, born Aug. 17, 1833 ; married Tomas- 
son, and was still living at Bumpass, Va., in 1904. 

Polly Marks, wife of Robert Gentry, was a daughter of 
Thomas Marks of Louisa, who was a first cousin of Thomas 
Jefferson, their mothers being sisters. 

Robert Gentry's second wife was mentioned in his will as 
Jane, and one of his daughters as Mary E. West. 



246. GEORGE GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

He died in Louisa Co., Va., when a young man, leaving one 
son, Edmund (247), who was reared by an uncle, who lived in 
Hanover Co. George Gentry's wife's name was Susan Gentry. 



247. EDMUND GENTRY, of Richmond, Va. 

(246) George. 

Born in Louisa Co. about 1791 ; reared by an uncle in Han- 
over Co., after the death of his father; married Rebecca Ford 
of Henrico Co. and came to Richmond to live. He and all his 



OTHER GENTRYS 28l 

sons were carpenters by trade. He was a private soldier in the 
War of 1812 and was stationed at Camp Holly. 

Children : 

1. Pleasant Edward, born in Richmond, Va., Aug. 6, 1816; 

was a tobacconist ; married Mary Miller, and had : 
William J., Sr., who has 4 children: 

(1) Pleasant. 

(2) Mary Ann. 

(3) Maud Lee. 

(4) W. J., Jr. 

2. Watson. Resided in Petersburg, Va. He had : Pleas- 

ant, Virginia and Rebecca. 

3. James. Resided in Petersburg, Va. He and his brother 

Watson were in the tobacco business. He had: Alice, 
Watson and Ardenia. 

4. Mary ; married Mr. Radford ; she lives in Petersburg, 

Va. Their child is: Edmund. 



This old lady, Mrs. Mary Radford, a daughter of Edmund Gentry, 
(241), wrote in 1899 that her grandfather, whom she thought was named 
George Gentry, died as a young man, leaving one child, Edmund ; that 
her grandfather had five or six brothers, four of whom went West when 
young men. Their names as she remembered them were : Oby, Gaddis, 
Nicholas, Watson and one other, whom she thought was named Mordacia. 



The writer, after a study of all the data thinks it is very 
probable that Gaddis Gentry (244), of Hanover, George (246) 
and John (248), of Louisa Co., Va., Watson (251), who set- 
tled in Rockingham Co., N. C, and afterwards moved to Wil- 
liamson Co., Tenn., Nicholas (231), of Ashe Co., N. C, and 
William Gentry, of Chattanooga (who is known to be a brother 
of Nicholas of Ashe Co.), are all brothers. Watson, Nicholas 
and William all lived at one time in North Carolina and the name 
Watson occurs in the descendants of both George and John. 
Their ages admit of this supposition. 



282 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

248. JOHN GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

Born about 1750. On May 25, 1821, one John Gentry con- 
veys by deed to John Gentry, Jr., yj\ acres of land on Locust 
Creek, in Louisa Co., Va. 

Children : 

1. Patrick (249). 

2. John (250), born about 1775. 

3. Samuel, born in Virginia ; moved to Kentucky ; mar- 

ried Miss Runkle and moved to Randolph Co., Mo., 
in 1830; died in 1867. 

4. Wilson, born in Virginia in 1783 ; married Miss Runkle 

in Kentucky in 1820; settled in Howard Co., Mo., in 
1830; lived also in Scotland Co., Mo.; moved to Cali- 
fornia in 185 1 where he died in 1877. 

5. Susan; married Basil Duke. A daughter, Louisa Jane 

Renfro, lives near Alturas, Cal. 

6. Anna, married John Gafney and lived in Kentucky. 



249. PATRICK GENTRY, of Henrico Co., Va. 

(248) John. 

Born in Louisa Co. ; died in 1848. His wife was named Mary 
Ann. He names the following children in his will which was 
probated in 1848: 

Children : 

1. Harmon Anderson. 

2. Fleming Paine ; had son, Patrick Henry. 

3. Moulton Woodson. 

4. Arena White, married Blackburn and had: Anna, Ma- 

ria and Marietta. 

5. Washington Hawley. 

He also mentions his granddaughter, Eliza Ann O'Conor, 
and Harmon-Anderson O'Conor, his grandson. 



250. JOHN GENTRY, of Louisa Co., Va. 

(248) John. 

Born in Louisa Co., Va., about 1775; died in 1854; married 



OTHER GENTRYS 283 

Barbara Haggard, June 14, 1799, in Orange Co., Va. She died 
and he married second, Lucy King, who had no children. David 
Richardson was appointed curator of John Gentry, Feb. 14, 
1854, during contest over his will, which was probated Feb. 
*3> 1854. 

Children : 

1. Claybourne Watson, married Polly Johnson and had: 

William Claybourne, Marcellius and Frank. 

2. Owen, lived in Tennessee. 

3. Austin, lived in Virginia and had seven children by first 

wife. 

Children : 

a. Amanda; m. Overton Harris and had six children. 

b. Abner; m. Bettie Davis. 

c. Ben ; m. Ellen Dodd and had six sons and two daughters. 

d. Sallie; m. Lelburn Davis; had one daughter and 3 sons. 

e. Evaline; m. Pleasant Henshaw. 

/. Delila; m. John Sharp; had 2 sons and 2 daughters. 
g. Uriah M. ; m. Ella Mitchel. 

4. Theodosia, married Thomas Armstrong. 

5. William N., died without issue in 1866. 



251. WATSON GENTRY, of Rockingham Co., N. C. 

Born in Hanover Co., Va., in 1761 ; died in Williamson Co., 
Tenn., in 1845 ; married Theodosia Poindexter, a daughter of 
David Poindexter and Miss Chisholm. about the year 1780; 
lived in Rockingham Co., N. C, for about twenty-five years 
and about 1805 moved to Williamson Co., Tenn. He was a man 
of the " old Southern planter type," well off in lands and ne- 
groes, proud, dignified and cultured — a Southern gentleman. 

Theodosia Poindexter Gentry was a remarkable woman ; she 
was descended from the Chisholms of Scotland and the Poin- 
dexters were French Huguenots. They settled in Albemarle 
and Louisa Counties, Va., at an early date. The vestry books 
of those counties show that in 1742 John Poindexter and five 
others took the " Oath of Allegiance " to King Charles. 

Theodosia was born in 1764; and died in Williamson Co., 



284 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Term., in 1850. She was a typical French woman of a dainty 
figure, wonderful vivacity and a great gift of conversational 
powers. Her voice possessed the same remarkable quality that 
was so noted in her distinguished son, Colonel Meredith P. Gen- 
try. She was noted far and wide for her wit, mimicry and rare 
conversational gifts. 

Children : 

1. Joseph, born in Rockingham Co., N. C, about 1783; 

married a widow Galloway. He never came to Ten- 
nessee with the rest of his father's family, although 
his children did. He represented Rockingham Co., 
N. C, in the House of Commons in that State in the 
years 1804, 1810 and 181 1. {See Wheeler's History 
of North Carolina.) 

Children : 

a. Samuel Watson. 

b. Dr. Reuben. 

c. Tabitha ; m. a Mr. Harding. 

d. May; m. a Mr. Childress. 

2. Thomas, married Elizabeth Campbell and had: Joseph, 

Campbell and Nanny. 

3. James, died at 18 years of age. 

4. William, married a sister of Elizabeth Campbell of Vir- 

ginia. 

Children : 

a. Susanna. 

b. Mary. 

c. Watson. 

d. Samuel. 

e. Cammilla. 
/. Jemima. 
g. James. 

5. Charles Pinckney, died single at 20 years of age. 

6. Elizabeth, married John Dalton. 

Dr. Reuben Gentry became a noted physician of Williamson Co., Tenn. ; 
he had the first and finest carriage in the county and one of the hand- 
somest and finest plantations. He married his cousin, Ruth Rogers and 
had two children: Elizabeth, who died at about twenty years of age and 
Dr. Robert, a prominent physician, who married and had heirs. 



OTHER GENTRYS 285 

Children : 

a. Madison. 

b. Theodosia. 

c. Tabitha. 

d. Mary. 

7. Jemima, married Joseph Henry Scales and lived in Ten- 

nessee. 

Children : 

a. Elsworth. 

b. Poindexter; had son, Mr. D. C. Scales now of Nashville, 

Tenn. 

c. Ann ; m. William Clark. 

d. Robert W. 

e. Sarah; m. Benj. Seward. 

/. Theodosia; m. Mr. Henderson. 

g. Mary; m. several times; her last husband, Mr. Brooks. 

h. James H. 

i. Jemima ; m. twice ; second husband, Mr. Ratcliff. 

j. Dr. Joseph W. 

8. Nancy, married a Mr. Lovell of Mississippi. 

9. Mary, married Robert Rogers and had one child, Ruth, 

who married her cousin, Dr. Reuben Gentry. 

10. Tabitha, married Dr. John M. Watson of Nashville, a 

very noted man of his day. 

11. Theophilus Lacy (252), born March 29, 1802. 

12. Meredith Poindexter (253), born in Williamson Co., 

Tenn., in 1809. 



252. THEOPHILUS LACY GENTRY, of Marshall Co., 

Tenn. 

(251) Watson. 

Born March 29, 1802 ; died near Chapel Hill, Marshall Co., 
Tenn. He was an intelligent and remarkably good man ; a 
devout " Primitive Baptist " ; one who knew how to govern his 
family well ; was kind and affectionate and owned a handsome 
home in his neighborhood ; a colonial mansion with Doric col- 
umns where congenial companionship and genuine hospitality 
were always found. 

He married first, Rebecca Boyce Sappington, in 1825. She 



286 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

died in 1838, and in 1839 he married Mrs. William Dabney, 
who was Miss Mary Edwards. She died in 1848 and he mar- 
ried the third time in 1849, Miss Mary Susan Pugh of the 
Louisiana family of Pughs. She died March 21, 1867. There 
were no children by second marriage. 

Children, by first wife: 

1. Watson, born Nov. 17, 1825 ; died in infancy. 

2. Joseph Stocket, born Jan. 22, 1827; married Elizabeth 

Buckner ; died in 1898. They had : Mary and Ida. 

3. Elizabeth Tabitha, born Feb. 20, 1829; married Dr. 

Frank Pugh of Louisiana. They had: David, James 
and Theophilus. 

4. Dr. Watson Meredith (254), born Jan. 31, 1831. 

5. Theodosia Poindexter, born March 17, 1833. 

6. Susan Thomas, born June 20, 1835 ; married Thomas 

Jordan. 

7. Thomas Sappington, born March 12, 1838; died in 1866; 

married Tennessee Holt. They had a son: William. 

Children, by third wife: 

8. Esla Edward, born May 12, 1849; died single in 1875. 

9. Sally Pugh, born June 19, 185 1. 

10. Emily M., born Feb. 23 ; died May, 1857. 

11. James Pugh, born July 3, 1856; married Suei Wil- 

liams and lives in Memphis, Tenn. 

Children : 

a. Earl. 

b. Maud. 

c. James. 

d. Ruth. 

12. William Frank, born July 7, 1858; married Molly Wil- 

liams and had: Mary and Beulah. 

13. Maggie P., born Oct. 2, i860; married Adolphus Plun- 

ket of Lynchburg, Va., and had eight children. 

Rebecca Boyce Sappington was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Sappington, 
one of the three sons of Dr. Mark Brown Sappington from Havre De 
Grass, Maryland, who was the first physician of the Capitol of Tennessee. 




Hon. Meredith Poindexter Gentry 



OTHER GENTRYS 287 

He and three of his sons were all students of medicine at the same time 
in Philadelphia under Dr. Benjamin Rush. His son, Dr. John Sappington 
was one of Missouri's first and most famous physicians ; he introduced 
the drug, quinine, and its use in America and made a large fortune in 
that day from his celebrated Sappington Pills, one of the first proprietary 
prescriptions. He was also the founder of the public school system of 
Missouri. 



253. MEREDITH POINDEXTER GENTRY, of William- 
son Co., Tenn. 

(251) Watson. 

Born in 1809 on the old Gentry place near College Grove, 
Williamson Co., Tenn. ; died in 1866 at the residence of his 
sister-in-law in Davidson Co., Tenn. He married the first time, 
Emily Saunders ; the second time, Caledonia Brown. , 

Tribute to his memory by his niece, Miss Susie Gentry, of 
Tennessee : 

Meredith P. Gentry was probably the best known and most distin- 
guished of the Gentry name in America. He was raised in the country on 
a farm and had meager opportunities for an education, but was fond of 
reading and interested in the great political questions of the day. His po- 
litical career commenced when he was twenty years old, when he was 
elected a member of the Tennessee legislature. He was a member of Con- 
gress for ten years and refused three nominations ; he was elected to Con- 
gress at the age of thirty years. He also served as a member of the con- 
federate Congress in 1862 and 1863. He was defeated by Andrew John- 
son for Governor of Tennessee in 1853 by only a few votes. Johnson 
proved himself a great man but he was untried at that time and Gentry 
felt very sorely his defeat by such a man as he regarded Andrew Johnson 
to be. 

An amusing incident occurred shortly after Johnson's victory over 
Gentry. Johnson had been elected and E. G. Eastman his supporter, 
was then editor of the leading democratic organ of the State. Parson 
Wm. C. Brownlow and Col. Mat Martin visited Gentry's home, " Hill- 
side " ; after spending several days and on the eve of their departure 
Gentry took down the Bible from the bookcase and said, " I will never per- 
mit a distinguished divine to honor me with a visit and leave without say- 
ing prayers for the family and neighborhood. Brownlow, you must 
pray." They all seated themselves and after reading a chapter, Mr. 
Brownlow kneeled down to pray, during which he prayed that the Lord 
might send beams of grace upon the hearts of Johnson and his man 
Eastman. " Stop, Brownlow, stop ! " exclaimed Gentry, " if that petition 



288 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

is answered the plan of salvation will be exhausted and the rest of us 
damned." 

He was a devoted Whig in politics and said to have been the finest 
orator in America, by such capable men as Daniel Webster, Alexander 
Stevens, G. P. R. James, and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, who had heard 
all the great orators of England. While in Congress he was regarded 
the handsomest man in the country, and was of that " galaxy of Giants," 
of which James G. Blaine wrote so interestingly and graphically. His 
political career was phenomenal, one continued oration. When he spoke 
in the halls of congress, standing room was in demand. Again he was 
heard in the confederate congress. He was a man, clean and pure, of the 
noblest ambition and true to every trust. 

It is claimed that Daniel Webster said of Gentry, that he was the 
finest natural orator of the race, and had the best voice ever given to 
man. Even his once hated rival, Andrew Johnson, said of him : " He 
is the most eloquent and popular of men." Mr. Stevens says : " He 
was one of the truest and noblest gentlemen the writer had ever met in 
his eventful life. No profounder philanthropist, no one more devoted to 
constitutional liberty, ever lived in this or any other country than Mere- 
dith P. Gentry." 

One of his most distinguished characteristics was his remarkable 
voice. It was music in harmony from the highest to the lowest pitch. 
It was simply perfect, possessed of magic and power seldom heard in 
any other man. Alexander Stevens said of his voice : " His voice was 
full volumned and rounded with a silver tone which penetrated all parts of 
that old hall in which it was so difficult for even Prentiss or Wise or 
Tom Marshall to be heard. 

Mrs. John B. Bond, the accomplished daughter of the illustrious Gen. 
Felix K. Zollicoffer, pays this beautiful tribute to him in her grand 
poem, " Tennessee." 

" 'Tis well to praise fair Tennessee, 

And countless hero-worthy deeds 
Of her great sons, who'll ever be 

The world's great men, while virtue needs 
True hearts and valiant arms, to fight 
'Gainst powerful wrong for timid right. 

Though silent now, her leaders still 

Are Grundy, Campbell, Polk and Bell ; 
Still Gentry's silvery periods fill 

Her memory's ear, as murmuring shell 
Is full of ocean's music roar 
Though it imbibes sea tones no more." 

When the secession came on he entered heart and soul into the cause 
of his beloved Southland and mother-state of Tennessee. He sold his 



OTHER GENTRYS 289 

fine plantation, " Hillside," in Bedford County for $100,000 in gold, and 
put the money in confederate bonds to aid the cause. When the war 
closed his estate was gone and he came home without lands and without 
money, as did many of the South's best, noblest and wealthiest sons. 
After the war was over the last great speech he made was in Fanueil 
Hall, Boston, which he delivered to an immense audience. In it he 
depicted in glowing terms his love for the Union and how loth he was to 
give it up. He said friend after friend had deserted him until he was 
almost left alone. Presently the ship of secession hove in sight, gathered 
up the stray passengers and the captain gave the order, " All aboard." 
He said the little knot of Unionists that stood with him one by one 
stepped aboard, leaving him solitary and alone upon the shore, and look- 
ing back at the old flag he still hesitated. Then the order to " haul in 
the gang plank," was given, and as the order was about to be obeyed, he 
could stand it no longer, and cried out, " Hold on, boys, I will go with 
you, if you go to hell." 

Children, by first wife: 

1. Mary, married Daniel Hillman and had: Daniel, Mere- 

dith P., and James H. 

2. Emily S., married Thomas T. Hillman, a wealthy man 

of Birmingham, Ala. ; president of the Pratt Coal Co. 
of that city. They were both wealthy; she inherited 
from a maternal aunt a fortune and Mr. Hillman 
was the son of Daniel Hillman, who married her sis- 
ter Mary. Mr. Hillman and his wife are noted for 
their charities and generosity. They have no children. 

Children, by second wife: 

3. Albert, married and lived in Clarrendon, Texas. He 

was killed by an accident in 1900 and left the fol- 
lowing: Emily, Philip Brooks and William Berkley. 

4. Charles. It is not known what has become of him. 

The following letter was taken from the home of Jefferson 
Davis in 1865 by Federal soldiers and was presented to the 
author in 190 1, by Major Samuel W. Smith of Kansas City, 
Mo., now deceased. 

Private, Triune, March 23d, 1853. 

Hon. Jefferson Davis, 
Secretary of War, 
Sir. — Upon my recommendation and that of my colleagues, C. H. Will- 
iams and Albert G. Watkins, the Reverend W. G. Brownlow, Editor of 



29O THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

the Knoxville Whig, was appointed Local Agent, to superintend the 
improvement of Tennessee River, with an appropriation made for that 
purpose, by the last congress. Though previously an Ultra Whig, he stood 
in the last Presidential contest with those Whigs who refused to support 
Gen. Scott ; and he now wages effective war against the Scott-Whig- 
party, predominant in the politics of Tenn. I have seen proofs that 
leading men belonging to that faction expect to reappropriate his services 
to themselves in consequence of his removal from the appointment re- 
ferred to. Not claiming to be entitled to favor from the present executive, 
I nevertheless venture to express the hope that he may not be removed. 
Doubtless it will occur that representations emanating from persons de- 
sirous to procure the appointment for themselves or friends, will seek 
to make the impression upon you that party-policy requires his removal. 
Claiming to comprehend the posture of party politics, I assure you can- 
didly that I believe you would violate every suggestion of sound policy 
by removing him. 

I hope I will not be considered as disregarding any sound law of 
delicacy by adding that there are reasons which relate to me personally, 
that would make it a gratification to me for him to be permitted to 
retain his appointment. 

Respectfully, 

M. P. Gentry. 



254. DR. WATSON MEREDITH GENTRY, Franklin, Tenn. 

(252) Theophilus V, Watson IV. 

Born Jan. 31, 1831, in Williamson Co., Tenn. He was mar- 
ried just before the Civil War to Martha A. Jones at Nashville, 
Tenn. She is a woman of talent and culture and of a noted 
and creditable ancestry, both as Christian martyrs and colonial 
patriots. Dr. Gentry was educated at Owens Hall and Triune 
Academies, two noted schools of Tennessee. He taught math- 
ematics, Latin and Greek for two terms after graduation. He 
began the study of medicine in 1852 ; attended lectures at the 
University of New York, where he was graduated with honors in 
March, 1855. He then went to Europe and visited the cele- 
brated colleges of the continent. On his return he was house 
surgeon of Bellevue Hospital, New York City, for two years, 
after which he located at Shelbyville, Tenn., and practiced medi- 
cine in partnership with Dr. Thomas Lipscomb. When the 
Civil War broke out he was appointed a surgeon in the Pro- 



OTHER GENTRYS 2C)I 

visional Army of Tennessee, and in June, 1861 he was com- 
missioned a surgeon of the 13th Regiment, Confederate Volun- 
teers. In 1862 he was made chief surgeon of General George 
B. Crittenden's division. In 1863 he was made chief surgeon of 
the hospitals at Montgomery, Ala., with 40 surgeons under him, 
and in charge of nine large hospitals. Dr. Gentry lives at " Ma- 
plehurst," Franklin, Tenn., and has been for many years one 
of Tennessee's most famous surgeons and physicians. 

His daughter: 
I. Miss Susie Gentry of Franklin, Tenn., is one of Ten- 
nessee's best known women and is very prominent in all 
patriotic societies, charities and religious work. She 
has been first in many things pertaining to her state's 
history. Through her efforts the first " Flag Day " 
in the South was celebrated at her home at " Maple- 
hurst " in 1895. She participated in the first " Tree 
Planting " in her state under patriotic auspices in 1895. 
She was first to locate the graves of Revolutionary 
soldiers buried in Tennessee soil and through her ef- 
forts 234 were located. 

She was made State Historian of the Daughters of 
American Revolution in 1901, which office she still 
holds. She has been prominent in all movements of 
the D. A. R. and the " Daughters of the Confederacy." 
She is also a leading Colonial Dame in her state. 
She was the organizer and regent for five years of 
Old Glory Chapter of the D. A. R. She has repre- 
sented her state in various conventions and celebra- 
tions. By appointment she awarded the silver medals 
to several companies of Tennessee's soldiers for gal- 
lantry on their return from the Philippines in 1900. 
Active, intelligent, literary and fond of historical re- 
search, she has been a leader in every branch of 
woman's work. The writer is indebted to her for 
most of the data in this book regarding Watson Gen- 
try and his descendants. 



2Q2 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

255. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Gloucester Co., N. J. 

He lived and reared his family in Gloucester Co., N. J. He is 
said to have been a Revolutionary soldier. There was a Wil- 
liam Gentry, private in 3d Battalion, Gloucester Co., who served 
also in Colonel Somer's Battalion State troops (New Jersey) 
in Revolutionary War. 

Children : 

1. Thomas (256). 

2. Joseph. Probably went to North Carolina or Texas 

when a young man. 

3. John. 



256. THOMAS GENTRY. 

(255) William. 

Born Nov. 15, 1779; died Dec. 4, 1841 ; married Susanna 
Caster, who was born Oct. 22, 1781. She died April 29, 1854. 



Children : 
Margaret, born May 17, 1804. 
William, born Sept. 9, 1806. 
George, born Nov. 21, 1808. 
Thomas, born Feb. 21, 181 1. 
Sarah, born April 7, 1813. 
Susanna, born Sept. 14, 1815. 
Jane, born May 3, 1818. 
Alfred (257), born Oct. 22, 1820. 






257. ALFRED GENTRY. 

(256) Thomas V, William IV. 

Born Oct. 22, 1820; died in 1897. His wife died Dec. 4, 
1904, aged 82. 

Children : 

1. Charles D., died Jan. 17, 1905, age 63. 

2. Thomas G. (258), died March 12, 1905, age 62. 

3. Henry P., died July 25, 1905. 



OTHER GENTRYS 



293 



4. William A. Lives at 1229 Woodland Avenue, Canton, 
Ohio. 



258. THOMAS G. GENTRY, S. C. D., of Philadelphia, Pa. 

(257) Alfred VI, Thomas V, William IV. 

Born March 1, 1843; died March 12, 1905. He was a very 
prominent teacher in Philadelphia. A naturalist and author. 
He wrote " Life-Histories of Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania," 
" Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States," " Family 
Names," " Life and Immortality," or " Soul in Plants and Ani- 
mals." Mr. Gentry's knowledge of the aspects of nature led 
him to see the beauty and order of the universe under the law 
of Evolution, and he was strongly in sympathy with the teach- 
ings of phenomena when explained by that law. A religious 
spirit pervades all his writings. 

Mr. Gentry has made some study of the name Gentry, and 
said it is Anglo-Norman, meaning gentility. The name Gentry, 
he thought, will be found in the records of Sussex Co., England, 
as far back as the time of the Norman Conquest, as the first 
Gentrys probably came from Normandy with William the Con- 
queror. 

Children : 

1. Dr. Allen F. Gentry. 

2. Mrs. Benjamin T. Lacy. 

3. Juanita Gentry. 



259. WILLIAM GENTRY, of Hanover Co., Va. 

He enlisted as a private for three years in the Revolutionary 
War and served in Captain Wm. T. Gaines Company, under 
Colonel Charles Harrison in the First Continental Artillery. 
He was discharged after Gates' defeat at Hillsborough, N. C. 
At the date of his application for a pension, May 9, 1819, his 
residence was Hanover Co., Va., and his age was 64 years. He 
was therefore born in 1754. To the pension office he mentioned 
in 1820 his family as follows: 



294 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



Children : 
Spencer, born in 1804. 
Thomas, born in 1807. 
Howard, born in 1810. 
Theodrick, born in 1812. 
Andrew, born in 1814. 
Mary, born in 1817. 



This soldier may possibly be William, son of David (4), or 
he may be son of George (185). 



260. JOSEPH GENTRY, of King William Co., Va. 

Born about 1785 in Virginia. He lived in King William Co.; 
was twice wounded in the War of 1812, and used his crutches 
until his death in 1835. Married twice. 





Children, by first wife 


I. 


John. 


2. 


James (261). 


3- 


William. 


4- 


Joseph. 


5. 


Martha. 



By second wife he had three boys and one girl. Some of his 
children lived in King William, some in Hanover. Joseph lived 
at New Westover, in Charles City Co., on the James River, and 
had three sons, one of whom, William Joseph Gentry of Rich- 
mond, Va., writes the above data. 



261. JAMES GENTRY, of Richmond, Va. 

(260) Joseph. 

Died in 1833. His will is of record at Richmond, Va., hav- 
ing been probated May 6, 1833. He gave to his sister, Martha 
Hay, certain household goods ; the rest of his estate to his chil- 
dren. Names his brother John as executor and his brother Joseph 



OTHER GENTRYS 295 

signed John Gentry's bond for $15,000 as administrator. James 
seemed to have been a merchant. 

Children : 

1. Sarah. 

2. Susan. 

3. James P. 

On Dec. 16, 1850, John Gentry's estate was appraised and 
Joseph Gentry was made administrator. 



262. JOHN GENTRY, of Richmond, Va. 

Born about 1780. Wife Mary had: 

Children : 

1. James. 

2. Joseph. 

3. Wm. Latimer, born 1812 in Richmond, Va. ; died in 

New Jersey in 1852. 

Children : 

a. John Thomas, b. 1850; came to Kansas in 188 1 ; present 

address, Clay Center, Kansas. 

b. Wm. Francis Latimer, b. 1852, Idana, Kan. 



263. SIMON GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Ky. 

Born in Virginia, he moved to Monroe Co., Ky., about 1845, 
where he died, leaving two children. 

Children : 

1. Boone, who married Louis Wheeler in Virginia and 

moved to Monroe Co., Ky. 

2. Richard (264). 



264. RICHARD GENTRY, of Monroe Co., Ky. 

(263) Simon. 

Born in Virginia; married Millie Crawford and moved to 



296 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Monroe Co., Ky., about 1810; reared a family of ten children 
and died at Gamaliel, Ky., at 96 years of age. 



Children : 
William, married Miss Hibbets.. 
John, married Miss Vaughn. 
Isaac, married Miss Hughes. 
Samuel (265). 

Louis, married Miss Mason of Mississippi. 
Richard, married in Mississippi. 
Simon, killed in Southern Army. 



There were also three daughters, two of whom married Cleve- 
lands and one a Mr. Hughes. All seven sons were Confed- 
erate soldiers. 



265. SAMUEL GENTRY, of Mt. Leonard, Mo. 

(264) Richard, Simon. 

Born at Gamaliel, Ky., Jan. 20, 1837; married Matilda A. 
Smith, Sept. 8, 1874, of Saline Co., Mo., and reared six sons 



and two daughters. 


He was a Conf 






Children 


1. 
2. 

3- 

4- 

5- 
6. 


Samaria. 
Marida P. 
Enoch E. 
Major B. 
J. Richard. 
Virgil L. 




7- 
8. 


Simon. 
Lelia. 





William A. Gentry's name appears in the list of privates in 
the Company of Captain McMillen, raised in Columbia, Mo., in 
July, 1846, as Mounted Volunteers to join Colonel Sterling 
Price's Regiment to reinforce the " Army of the West." — 
" History of Boone Co., Mo," p. 353. 



OTHER GENTRYS 297 

Benjamin Gentry served as a private in Captain William 
Wade's company, Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Slaughter's Regi- 
ment, and William Gentry served as a private in Captain Wil- 
liam Walker's Company, in Davis' Regiment of Kentucky De- 
tached Militia in War of 1812, and were both engaged in the bat- 
tle of New Orleans. See Filson Club Publications, " Battle of 
New Orleans," p. 193. 

266. JOSEPH COMBS GENTRY, of Houston, Texas. 

Born in Virginia, settled first in Brookville, Ind., and married 
Mary Van Meter of that town, about 1822; he moved to Texas 
about 1840, where he afterwards died. He had: 

1. Abram Morrice, born in Brookville, Ind., May, 1823. 
Merchant, government contractor, manager of trans- 
portation of Confederate Government and railroad 
promoter and builder. He built the Texas and New 
Orleans railroad from Houston to Orange, also the 
Texas Western, from Houston to Sealy, Texas. He 
was an educated civil engineer ; married Mary Francis 
Rather, Oct. 29, 1844, daughter of James Rather and 
Harriet Lewen, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who moved to 
Texas in 1839. And had: 

a. Charles Ruthven Gentry, born Sept. 30, 1845 ; died Oct. 

14, 1883. 

b. Mary Virginia, born Dec. 3, 1849; married, Jan. 23, 1873, 

Jedediah Waldo, who died about 1892, son of Calvin 
Waldo and Matilda Odeneal, of Osceola, Mo. He was 
vice-president and general traffic manager of the M. K. 
& T. Railroad. They had: 

(1) Gentry Waldo, born Sept. 26, 1874; m. Carrinne 

Abercrombie, and had : Gentry Chilton and 
Elizabeth Elliott. 

(2) Wilmer Waldo, born Jan. 21, 1876. 

(3) Cora Waldo, born March 2, 1877; m. Pierce But- 

ler of Natches, Miss., and had : Virginia W., 
Pierce, Mary Francis. 

(4) Mary Waldo, born Oct. n, 1878. 

(5) Lula Waldo, born March 8, 1880. 

(6) Virginia Waldo, born Nov. 8, 1881. 

c. Cora Nina Gentry, born April 16, 1854; m. April, 1886, 

N. H. Worley, and had : Gentry and Charles. 

d. Alonzo Mills Gentry, born Sept. 25, 1856; died April, 1898. 



2g8 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

2. William Harrison Gentry, never married. 

3. Rebecca Jane Gentry, married Henry Flushman, and 

had : Henry Gentry, William Harrison and Eugene 
Robinson. 

267. DAVID GENTRY, of Chariton Co., Mo. 

Born in Virginia, March 10, 1778, married Jennie, born in 
Virginia, Nov. 24, 1780; he is said to have a brother James. He 
moved to Kentucky and settled on a farm near Crab Orchard 
about the year 1800. In 1825 he moved, with his entire family, 
from Kentucky to Chariton Co., Mo., and in a few years he was 
drowned in the Chariton River. 

Children : 

1. Belith, born March 19, 1803 ; settled on a farm in 

Grundy Co., Mo., near Trenton, where he lived for 
many years ; he was a substantial, well-to-do farmer, 
and reared a family of thirteen children : David, John, 
Louis, Irving Belith, Clarinda, Sarah, Elizabeth, Ra- 
chel, Christopher, Lucinda and William. 

2. John, born Sept. 29, 1805. He lived near Keytesville, 

in Chariton Co., Mo., and reared his family on a farm. 

3. Clarinda, born March 15, 1809. 

4. Lucinda, born July 13, 181 1. 

5. Sally, born Oct. 17. 1813. 

6. Nancy, born Feb. 28, 1817. 

7. William, born Jan. 27, 1819; he settled near Princeton, 

in Mercer Co. and died there Jan. 27, 1865 ; married 
Elizabeth Wiles and had five children : Lafayette, Phil- 
lip, Sally, William and Belith. 

8. Katie, born Oct. 11, 1821. 

9. Rachel, born May 25, 1824; she has a daughter, Mrs. 

Belitha Carpenter, living at St. Catherin, Linn Co., Mo. 



/ 



PART IV 

GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 

FIRST GENTRY FAMILY REUNION. 

Crab Orchard, Ky., August, 1898. 

At the suggestion of W. H. Gentry, of Lexington, Ky., and 
Mrs. Jane Gentry Shelton, of St. Louis, Mo., a committee of 
the Kentucky Gentrys and their relatives, descendants of the 
Revolutionary soldier Richard Gentry, of Madison Co., Ky., sent 
out invitations to a Gentry Family reunion, to be held at Crab 
Orchard, Kentucky, for one week commencing. Aug. 1, 1898. 
Several hundred Gentrys and their relations responded to the 
invitation, and spent a most enjoyable week together in the spa- 
cious and beautiful grounds, and ample buildings at Crab Or- 
chard Springs. The greatest number were from Missouri and 
Kentucky, yet the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Kansas and Indian Territory were represented. 

There were a number of old men and women present, rang- 
ing from 70 to 90 years of age, members of the fifth generation 
of Gentrys in this country ; sons and daughters of the first set- 
tlers of several of the states east of the Mississippi, who were 
full of interesting reminiscences of the early days, and of thrill- 
ing stories of their pioneer ancestors. 

In addition to the large parlors there was a convenient as- 
sembly room, where meetings of some kind were held for one 
hour every day ; welcoming addresses, responses, prepared pa- 
pers on the lives of some of the prominent Gentrys, reminiscent 
talks, musicals, or religious services. 

Welcoming addresses were made by W. H. Gentry, L. Hamp- 
ton Bush, and Miss Love Gentry of Kentucky ; and responses 
were made by North Todd Gentry of Columbia, Mo., and by 
Richard Gentry of Kansas City, Mo. At one meeting, Judge 
Thomas Benton Gentry read a most interesting paper on the 
life of his father, General Richard Gentry of Missouri ; at an- 
other Miss Susie Gentry of Tennessee gave the life story of her 
great uncle, the Hon. Meredith P. Gentry, the famous orator and 



300 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

statesman of Tennessee. On one evening a grand ball was given 
in the large dining room of the hotel which was opened by a 
grand march, led by Richard Gentry of Kansas City and Miss 
Susie Gentry of Tennessee. Mr. Gentry was dressed in the mili- 
tary uniform of Gen. Richard Gentry, his grandfather, which 
was made in 1837 and was perfectly preserved. Gen. Gentry's 
Regimental flag, made by the ladies of Columbia, Mo., and pre- 
sented to him in 1837, as he marched out of Columbia for 
the Florida War, was also carried in the grand march ; the 
beauty of its well preserved and sacred folds, appealed to the 
sentiments of patriotism in the hearts of the young Gentry with 
more force than spoken words could do. After! the grand 
march and the beginning of the dance, the ball room was left 
to the young people ; the older guests retired to the parlors 
and verandas, to talk over some old incidents of family history 
suggested by the grand march and by the strains of martial 
music. 

Appropriate religious services were held several times during 
the meeting and greatly enjoyed. A business meeting of 
the family was held ; an organization was formed under the 
name of the " Gentry Family Association," and the following 
officers were chosen : 

President — W. H. Gentry, Lexington Ky. 
Vice President — Charles W. Gentry, Harrodsburg, Ky. 
Vice President — Richard Gentry, Kansas City, Mo. 
Vice President — Thomas B. Gentry, Kansas City, Mo. 
Vice President — Mrs. John D. Harris, Richmond, Ky. 
Vice President — Mrs. Theodore Shelton, St. Louis, Mo. 
Vice President — Miss Susie Gentry, Franklin, Tenn. 
Secretary — L. Hampton Bush, Winchester, Ky. 



RESPONSE TO ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY RICHARD GENTRY OF KAN- 
SAS CITY, MO. 

Mr. Chairman : 

In response to the address of welcome, I desire first, to express 
our most sincere thanks and grateful appreciation for this very 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 3OI 

cordial reception and fraternal greeting. This happy reunion 
of the Gentry family of this country has been brought about 
largely through your effort and enterprise, which was prompted 
by a love of kindred and a worthy family pride. 

The Missourian comes back to Kentucky with the feeling of 
a son coming home to his father's house, and he is ever mind- 
ful that beyond the mountains in old Virginia, is the 
home of his grandfather. The great Gladstone said : " No 
greater calamity can happen to a people than to break utterly 
with its past." This is eminently true also in relation to the 
family. The family is the unit and basis of our government; 
without family traditions, and love and reverence for an- 
cestry, there will be poor soil in which to cultivate the spirit of 
patriotism and love of country. Family reunions are enjoyable 
for their pleasant and social features, they are beneficial for 
educational reasons, and on account of the inspiration that comes 
from family pride and reverence for ancestry. 

The growth and progress of our family across this continent 
has been step by step with the growth and development of this 
country from its first settlement on the Atlantic coast throughout 
its march westward to the Pacific Ocean. The Gentrys have 
always been at the front among that hardy race of pioneers, 
who blazed out the way for progress, drove out the savage 
and wild beast, cut down the forest, and built farms and villages. 

It required about one hundred and sixty years from the first 
settlement in Virginia to cross the Alleghanies and make a 
permanent settlement in Kentucky; but in the next twenty-five 
years emigration had crossed the Mississippi river, and in 1830 
the Gentrys were crossing the plains to the Rocky Mountains, 
to Mexico and soon after to California. This great country now 
conquered is being rapidly settled ; a continuous stream of 
emigration from the east and the rebound from the west, pours 
into its center — the great Mississippi Valley. 

To the hardy pioneers, we owe a debt of gratitude and re- 
spect, that as yet, w r e hardly realize; they were not only in- 
spired by a love of political freedom and religious liberty, but 
■believed they were the instruments in God's hands, for con- 
quering a country and establishing a government, whose bene- 
ficence and grandeur would be supreme. With this pioneer 



302 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

army rests the glory which has vindicated the mission of 
America. 

As an incident, to show the part taken by our ancestors in 
the struggles of the early pioneers, it may be interesting to 
state, that I am of the seventh generation of Gentrys in this 
country and every one of my Gentry ancestors, has at some time 
been a soldier in the defense of his country. 

The first emigration of the Gentrys from their Virginia home 
was to North Carolina where they followed that great pioneer, 
Daniel Boone, just before the Revolution; the next was to 
Kentucky, just after the Revolution, where our ancestor Richard 
Gentry led the way, after he had returned home from the war. 
About twenty-five years later his sons began to cross the Missis- 
sippi River into Missouri and continued as they grew up, until 
eight of them had settled on Missouri soil. Some of them lived 
together within the stockades, at Old Franklin, Mo., during the 
war of 1812, as a protection from Indians, and finally they set- 
tled in different parts of the state, established homes, and reared 
large and influential families. From Virginia, as well as from 
North Carolina, Kentucky and Missouri, the Gentrys settled in 
Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, as well as in every southern and west- 
ern state. 

The Gentry immigrants are said to have been of Anglo-Nor- 
man origin, but to-day by intermarriage we are a mixture 
largely of Norman, Saxon, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish, thoroughly 
American in sentiment and tradition. What an opportunity this 
reunion affords to arouse interest in family history and tradi- 
tion and to collect and preserve it for the future. 

A knowledge of the early history of our country, of its 
trials, and accomplishments, is necessary to appreciate the pres- 
ent and to meet the responsibilities of the future. We are 
amazed when we contemplate what has been accomplished in 
this country in the last 200 years. Starting as we did without 
the aid of machinery, the railroad or the telegraph and with 
such poor facilities for education ; and when we compare the 
opportunities of the present, how great are our responsibilities. 
We live to-day in the proudest age of the world's history, in 
a country more glorious in its resources and institutions, than 
the world has ever known, and Kentucky and Missouri com- 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 303 

prise the very heart of this great country. What an oppor- 
tunity ! The great Mississippi Valley — extending from the Al- 
leghanies to the Rocky Mountains and from the Great Lakes 
to the Gulf of Mexico, is capable of sustaining a greater 
population than any other equal area on the face of the earth, 
and the tendency and trend of population is towards the fill- 
ing up of this valley from the east and west. 

Now as the 20th century is about to be ushered in, we can 
somewhat realize the accomplished destiny of the American peo- 
ple — the subjugation of this continent — the occupation of this 
vast territory — the animation of its people with the principles 
of self government — the emancipation of slavery — and the es- 
tablishment of free education for the masses. But what is be- 
fore us as the unaccomplished destiny in which we are to take 
part. The roar of Dewey's guns at Manilla and of Sampson's 
and Shafter's at Santiago, has aroused our people to a realiza- 
tion of what is called their manifest destiny and present op- 
portunity to extend the spirit of progress and civilization of 
the 20th century, even to the islands of the sea, as a substitute 
for the darkness, ignorance, intolerance and oppression of the 
1 6th century. 

The war with Spain has given us a new epoch in American 
history. We will abandon our old policy of isolation, and as- 
sume bravely our place in the councils of the great nations of 
the world, where our influence will be felt for the extension of 
civilization and the interests of humanity. Old lines and old 
policies will be forgotten, and new issues, broader and higher, 
will unite our people and inspire them with patriotism. We will 
have in the near future a larger army, a great navy, and our 
merchant marine will again cover the seas ; that great country 
of China will furnish untold commerce and ere long, the coast 
of Africa and South America will demand our products in 
exchange for theirs, and the completion of the Isthmian Canal 
will be an early consummation. Again I say what great op- 
portunities are before us ; let us as a family, be quick to see 
and embrace them — inspire in our children, higher and broader 
ambitions, and educate them, that they may be able to meet 
these new responsibilities and opportunities. Higher education 
for the young men — the bread winners — is necessary, that they 



304 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

may rise and not sink, in the spirited contest of the future. 
Let us lay aside all disgruntled and pessimistic views, take 
hold of the possibilities of American citizenship with a firm faith 
and a steady purpose and become workers and not drones in 
the great cause of civilization and progress. 

Again thanking you sincerely for your generous hospitality, 
worthy of our Kentucky ancestors, your noble sires, I must not 
fail to say that the noblest and best of the pioneers who came 
from Kentucky to Missouri, were our mothers, who like their 
mothers in Kentucky in those early times, endured more of hard- 
ship and privation than their husbands, with a faith, patience and 
patriotism unknown to man. To them we all owe whatever of 
goodness and worth and merit there is in us. 



AN ADDRESS ON THE LIFE OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY BY HIS 
SON, THOMAS BENTON GENTRY 

My father's name was Richard Gentry. He was born in Mad- 
ison County, Kentucky, on the 21st day of August, 1788, nearly 
no years ago. He was the third son of Janey Harris and 
Richard Gentry, who fought in the war for American Inde- 
pendence and was present at the capture of Lord Cornwallis, 
at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. My father's brothers and sis- 
ters were: Reuben, David, Christy, James, Joseph McCord, 
Nancy, Joshua, Overton, Rodes, and Jane. His half brothers 
and sisters were: Josiah Collins, Robert, Charles Walker, Val- 
entine, Tyre, William James and Mary Jane, making nineteen 
in all ; a pretty good sized family. 

My father was an energetic and stirring man of robust and 
fine physique, height six feet ; weight, two hundred pounds, 
with black hair, ruddy complexion, an elastic step and military 
bearing. He was an excellent marksman, a splendid hunter, a 
good fighter and a whole-souled, chivalrous Kentuckian of the 
early part of the nineteenth century. He had no fear of man or 
beast, neither the British red coats nor the savage Indian. His 
chief characteristics were generosity, hospitality, sociability, 
bravery and patriotism. He was fond of military life and poli- 
tics ; and although his education was not a collegiate one, he 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 305 

was a very fine extemporaneous public speaker, well versed in 
the public affairs of his time, and during political campaigns, 
gained much applause from the crowds that listened to him 
speak. Of his early days in Kentucky, I have heard more, 
perhaps, from the lips of dear Uncle Charlie, who is present 
with us to-day, than from any one else. When my father was 
a little over 21 years of age, in 1810, he married Ann Hawkins, 
of Madison County, Kentucky, a lady of rare good judgment 
and strong common sense, who, following the noble example of 
Janey Harris, her husband's mother, bore her liege-lord a dozen 
children ; and then threw one in for good count, making a baker's 
dozen. Although a young married man in 181 2, at the call 
of his country, he and his brothers, David and James, volun- 
teered to defend the rights, and maintain the honor of his be- 
loved country. They marched out with many other Kentuckians 
to the assistance of Gen. W. H. Harrison, who was carrying on 
the war on our northern border against the British and Indians. 
Many a time have I heard my mother tell about the British red 
coats and although I have lived to regard England as a great 
country and its people a great people, who are now our friends, 
still that old spirit of rejoicing for victories won over the red 
coats, instilled into me when I was a child, still lingers with me. 
On the 15th day of October, 1812, while my father was out on 
the campaign against the British, my mother gave birth to her 
oldest son, and he was named in honor of Gen. W. H. Harrison, 
Richard Harrison Gentry. My brother Richard Harrison, lived 
to the age of 58 years, and raised a family of lovely children, 
the oldest, Richard Gentry, a prominent and wealthy citizen of 
Kansas City, Missouri, together with his daughter, Elizabeth, 
are with us to-day. Harrison's son, O. P. Gentry, of Clay 
County, Missouri, is also with us. 

The winter of 1812-13 was a very hard one on our soldiers 
in the rigorous climate of the north ; especially so with the Ken- 
tuckians, who had gone out early in the season, and were not 
well prepared for the cold. Their clothing became worn and 
ragged, the government could not supply them promptly, and 
much suffering was the consequence. The women of Kentucky 
heard of this, and history says a thousand needles went to 
work to supply the soldiers. It was at this time that my mother 



306 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

spun the yarn, wove the cloth, cut out and made a suit of blue 
mixed Kentucky jeans, and sent it to my father in the army, 
who wore it with very great pleasure and much comfort. As 
a specimen of the handiwork and industry of the women of 
Kentucky, I have with me to show to you a beautiful, white 
counterpane, which was made by my mother in 1809, and years 
afterward presented to one of her daughters and has been kept 
in the family for nearly ninety years. 

The glorious victory of Commodore Oliver Perry over the 
British on Lake Erie, on the 10th day of September, 1813, 
electrified and delighted the whole country when he reported, 
" We have met the enemy and they are ours." My father with 
patriotic enthusiasm, named his second son, Oliver Perry Gentry. 

I have in my possession several commissions issued to my 
father by the governors of Kentucky. The first, a lieutenant's 
commission, was given him when he was just 20 years of age, 
by Governor Christopher Greenup, and is dated in 1808. A 
Captain's commission was given him by Gov. Charles Scott, 
in June, 181 1, and on September 1st, 1813, Gov. Isaac Shelby 
commissioned him ensign. 

After the close of the war of 1812, my father still desirous 
of new adventures, concluded to move with his family to the 
then territory of Missouri ; his older brother Reuben having 
preceded him to that country. He loaded up his wagon with 
his household effects and cooking utensils, and driving what 
stock he had, took his departure with his family and several 
slaves from dear old Kentucky in 1816; my mother rode on 
horseback a fine thoroughbred mare, and carried a child in her 
lap a large part of the way. This child, Dorothy, became the 
mother of several children ; one of whom is Mrs. J. V. C. 
Karnes, the wife of one of Kansas City's leading lawyers, and 
a prominent figure in the literary and social circles of that city. 
The white covered mover's wagon was driven by Ben Stephens, 
who afterward became a famous stage driver in Missouri, and 
lived to be a very old man, and when in a jolly mood, I have 
seen him clap his hands to his sides and crow like a rooster, 
loud and clear. They passed through the states of Indiana 
and Illinois, and crossed the Mississippi River in a flat boat 
at St. Louis, which was at that time only a small French village 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 2>°7 

with about 3,000 inhabitants. They stopped and made one or 
two crops in St. Louis County, in Bonhomme Bottom, and then 
pushed on further west to the interior of the territory. They 
arrived at Old Franklin, Howard County, on the banks of the 
Missouri River, where they remained several years, becoming 
familiar with the old forts Hempstead, Kinkaid and Cooper, 
all of which were built and used by the settlers during the war 
of 1812 for protection against the Indians. 

The first steamboat that ascended the Missouri River ar- 
rived at Old Franklin, Howard County, on the 28th day of May, 
1819. It was an occasion of great rejoicing and my father 
and others made speeches of welcome, accepted an invitation 
and dined on the boat, after which there was music and danc- 
ing and a jolly time. 

While living at Old Franklin a company of gentlemen was 
formed, my father being of the number, who entered about 
four sections of land in what is now Boone County, Missouri, 
and laid out and founded the town, now city, of Columbia, 
the county seat and also the seat of the Missouri State Uni- 
versity. My father being one of the proprietors and trustees 
of the town, moved to Columbia in 1820, and built and kept 
the first hotel in the place. Columbia thus became his home and 
the home of his family for many years ; and he has two grand- 
sons, North Todd Gentry and William Richard Gentry, still 
residing there, while Marshall Gordon and Gentry Clark still 
reside in Boone County. While living in Columbia, my father 
and his brother James, who had also come to Missouri, became 
interested in the lead mines at Galena, Illinois, and made sev- 
eral trips to that place, spending some time there in lead min- 
ing. Uncle James finally died there or near there. 

The first Governor of Missouri, Alexander McNair, in 1821, 
appointed my father a captain in the state militia, and in 1822 
appointed him colonel. He was afterward, in 1832, appointed 
major-general of the Missouri state militia. In 1826, he 
was elected to the general assembly of the state of Missouri 
and served for four years as state senator, having the honor of 
voting for Thomas H. Benton, Missouri's greatest statesman, for 
the United States Senate. In 1830 he named his eleventh child 
Thomas Benton Gentry — your humble servant. About this time 



308 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

my father engaged in the Santa Fe trade, and made one, per- 
haps two or more trips to Santa Fe and return. 

In 1830, during President Jackson's first administration, my 
father was appointed postmaster, at Columbia, which office he 
continued to hold until his death, for nearly eight years. 

In 1832, the great Indian chieftain, Black Hawk, and his 
followers, became dissatisfied and disorderly and threatened to 
make a raid into the state of Missouri, carrying death and 
destruction with them. Under the orders of the governor of 
the state, my father marched in command of several companies 
of volunteers from Boone and Callaway and other counties to 
the northeast border of the State, to Clark county; held and 
occupied Ft. Pike and spent the summer there protecting the 
settlers from the Indians. The next year the Indians crossed 
the Mississippi River into northern Illinois where they were 
defeated and scattered ; Black Hawk and many of his followers 
being captured, which put an end to the Black Hawk war. Dur- 
ing Jackson's second administration as President of the United 
States, the Seminole Indians of Florida were giving the country 
much trouble, refusing to comply with their agreement to re- 
move west of the Mississippi River, harboring runaway slaves 
from the Southern States and committing many outrages upon 
the white settlements. In 1835 tne massacre of Major Dade and 
nearly his whole command of no men took place, as they were 
passing from Ft. King to Ft. Brooke preparatory to the peace- 
able removal of the Indians. This was the beginning of the 
second Seminole war — the seven years' war, that caused so much 
bloodshed and cost the United States government thirty millions 
of dollars, and baffled the skill of many of our generals and 
officers, among whom were Generals Gaines, Scott, Cail, Jessup, 
Twiggs, Harney, Taylor and Worth, the latter of whom suc- 
ceeded in bringing the war to a close in 1842. At its close many 
of the Indians were removed west of the Mississippi, but a 
remnant of the tribe remains to this day in the swamps and 
everglades of Southern Florida. In the summer of 1837, the 
government of the United States adopted the policy of sending 
volunteers to the Florida war from the State of Missouri, thus 
giving Missourians the opportunity to aid in reclaiming from the 
savage Indian, for the uses of civilization, the beautiful and 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 309 

lovely land of Florida; many parts of which are now so in- 
dustriously and beautifully cultivated and which is dotted over 
with flourishing towns and cities, with their church spires and 
school houses and pleasant homes. In pursuance of this policy 
the secretary of war, Joel Poinsett, upon the recommendation 
of Col. Benton, authorized my father to raise a regiment of 
volunteers for service in Florida. The regiment was very soon 
raised, my father going from county to county in central Mis- 
souri making speeches and calling for volunteers. All being in 
readiness the regiment took its departure from Columbia, Mis- 
souri, on the 15th day of October, 1837. The men were mounted 
and marched to St. Louis by land and on to Jefferson Barracks, 
which place they reached, October 20th. Before leaving Colum- 
bia, the patriotic women of the town made and presented the 
regiment with a beautiful silk flag. After the close of the war, 
the officers of the regiment presented this flag to my mother, 
to be kept in the family as an heirloom. I have the old flag 
with me to-day, together with my father's military coat and 
epaulettes, all of which were used more than sixty years ago. 
Our glorious union which is now composed of forty-seven states, 
in 1837 had but twenty-six states, and you will find just twenty- 
six stars on the old flag, with the usual thirteen stripes. The 
stirring motto — 

" Gird, gird for the conflict, our banner wave high, 
For our country we live, for our country we'll die," 

was printed on it, in the old "Patriot" office on Guitar street, 
in Columbia, Missouri, and your humble servant, then a boy 
seven years of age, was an eye witness to the printing and to 
the efforts of the ladies to prevent the flag from being soiled 
with printers' ink. 

After remaining at Jefferson Barracks a few days, the men 
and horses were taken on steamboats down the Mississippi River 
to New Orleans. Many of the men of this regiment having 
been born in Kentucky, gave rousing cheers for their " Old 
Kentucky home," as they passed the state on their way down the 
river. Upon reaching New Orleans, October 30th, they were 
quartered at Jackson Barracks; starting again from New Or- 



3IO THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

leans, November 2, on four sailing vessels across the Gulf of 
Mexico to Tampa Bay, father and those in the ship with him 
crossed in good time and landed at the mouth of Hillsborough 
River, Tampa Bay. But the other vessels were caught in a 
storm and were three weeks in making the passage, having 
been blown out of their course. To prevent the vessels from 
sinking during the storm, many horses were thrown overboard 
and others were smothered in the hold of the ships. In con- 
sequence of the loss of their horses, many of the men had to 
be discharged at Tampa Bay, which was done by order of Col. 
Taylor. My father proceeded with the remaining part of the 
regiment, though somewhat demoralized on account of the loss 
of horses and men, accompanied by parts of the First, Fourth 
and Sixth regiments of regulars ; all under command of Col. 
Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, who afterwards became president 
of the United States. Marching into the interior in search of 
the Indians they first went in an eastern direction to Lake 
Kissimmee and then turned southward. After advancing about 
150 miles through an unexplored and tangled wilderness, cross- 
ing many streams over which there were no bridges, in pursuit 
of a treacherous foe from whom constantly an attack was ex- 
pected, toward the last of December they discovered a large 
body of warriors commanded by their chiefs, Alligator and 
Coachoochee. The Indians had selected the place for the battle 
on the north side of Lake Okeechobee. Between our forces and 
the Indians lay a morass or swamp about half a mile wide and 
three or four feet deep in mud and water with a growth of 
saw grass to encounter if they attempted to cross. This swamp 
in front of our forces extended both to the right and left for a 
considerable distance. A halt was made and a consultation of 
the officers held. My father proposed to go around the swamp 
but Col. Taylor, his superior in command, decided that 
they must go through it. The men were dismounted, a detail 
made to hold the horses, and all prepared to wade through the 
swamp and give battle. The volunteers were placed in front 
and were ordered to bring on the engagement and then re- 
treat to the rear. They rushed in and many were shot down while 
attempting to cross the swamp. My father at the head of his 
men succeeded in crossing and gaining the firm ground, and 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 3II 

as he did so, called out to his men, " Come on, boys." Just 
then he received his fatal wound. A bullet from the enemy 
pierced his abdomen and passed through his body. My brother 
Harrison, who was near him at the time, was also wounded. 
After several hours of hard fighting the Indians fled. The 
battle was fought on the 25th day of December 1837, and my 
father, after great suffering, died that night. Our loss in killed 
and wounded was 138 men. The government of the United 
States brought my father's remains back to Jefferson Barracks 
and buried them; and there in the beautiful national cemetery 
they quietly rest to-day. 

" Far from home and his loved ones he fell, 

In his country's cause he perished. 
No more he'll follow the Indian trail, 

Or bear aloft the flag so cherished. 
The lightnings may flash, the loud thunder rattle, 

He heeds not, he hears not, he's free from all pain, 
He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle, 

No sound can awake him to glory again." 

My father when cut down, was in the prime of life, in the 
full vigor of a well matured manhood, being not quite 50 
years old. My mother was thus left a widow, her youngest 
child being but three years old. Through the influence of my 
father's friend, Senator Benton, my mother was at once ap- 
pointed postmistress at Columbia, Missouri, by President Martin 
Van Buren. She was allowed to keep the postoffice through 
the administrations of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, 
James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin 
Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and resigned it 
during the administration of Andrew Johnson, having kept it 
for nearly thirty years. She also received a pension from the 
government at the rate of $30 per month, up to the date of her 
death in 1870. 

The legislature of the State of Missouri honored the memory 
of my father by naming one of the now rich and prosperous 
counties of the state — Gentry County. In Col. Taylor's official 
report of the battle of Okeechobee he said : " Col. Gentry 
died in a few hours after the battle, much regretted by the army, 



312 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

and will be doubtless, by all who know him, as his state did 
not contain a braver man or a better citizen." 

After the reception of Col. Taylor's official report of this 
battle at Washington, the general commanding the army, Gen- 
eral Malcomb, issued the following order : " To Col. Taylor* 
and the officers, non-commissioned officers and troops of 
the regular army, the secretary of war tenders the thanks 
of the President of the United States, for the discipline 
and bravery displayed by them on the occasion, as likewise, to 
the officers and volunteers of Missouri who shared in the con- 
flict, and who evinced so much zeal and gallantry in bringing 
on the action." 



*Col. Zachary Taylor was promoted to colonel after the Black Hawk 
War in 1832 and served in that capacity until after the battle of Okeecho- 
bee, Dec. 25, 1837, when he was made Brigadier General by brevet. 



LETTERS IN REPLY TO INVITATIONS TO ATTEND THE REUNION. 

United States Senate, 
Washington, D. C, July 25, 1898. 
My dear Mr. Gentry : 

Please accept my sincere thanks for the compliment and honor of your 
very kind invitation to attend the reunion of the Gentry Families of Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, at Crab Orchard, Aug. 1st, 
1898. I had hoped I might be able to attend, but just now I cannot. 
This I regret sincerely. 

Born and reared in Johnson Co., Mo., I knew of the Pettis Co. 
Gentrys from my boyhood, and always heard them spoken and talked of 
most favorably and pleasantly. 

When I became personally acquainted with quite a number of them, I 
realized that the favorable and kindly words I had heard spoken of them, 
were fully justified, and accounted for. 

There have been few nobler, better men, mentally and physically, in 
Missouri than Major William Gentry. I knew him quite intimately, and 
the longer and the more intimately I knew him, the more I admired 
and loved him. I have seen few more lovable and admirable gentle- 
men than he was. 

With sincere regrets that I cannot be present and with many best 
wishes, your friend, 

F. M. Cockrell. 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 313 

Kansas City, Mo., June 17, 1898. 
Richard T. Gentry. 

My dear Sir. — I have your polite letter of the 16th, inviting me in the 
most gratifying manner to attend the Gentry reunion, at Crab-Orchard, 
Ky., in August, 1898. I have been more or less associated with the name 
Gentry, since the commencement of my Missouri life, in 1857. I have 
not yet met with one, bearing that name, who has been weighed in the 
balance and found wanting. It is a name that has commanded great 
respect in Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana and Tennessee. I have been as- 
sociated intimately with the Gentrys of Missouri, especially those in 
Pettis Co., who were my personal friends, associates and political sup- 
porters. William and Richard Gentry were remarkable men, surpassed 
by few, and scarcely equalled by any in force of character and sound 
judgment. 

Had the mind of Richard Gentry been educated in military pursuits, 
he would have made one of our greatest generals. He was very superior 
in power of concentration and organization, and could penetrate and read 
men. He made a success in everything he undertook — he seemed to be 
able to see the end from the beginning. Order, method and great in- 
dustry were great factors in his great success, in addition to his in- 
telligence and superior judgment. 

There was a marked difference between Richard Gentry and his 
brother William — yet the latter was quite as distinguished as Richard 
in his line. 

William was more often on the streets of Sedalia, as he was more 
social in his temperament, and more given to directing public and 
political policy. He was one of the most liberal and hospitable men I 
ever knew. He had the happy faculty of making the every day laborer 
feel as easy and comfortable in his society, as he had of making the 
man of greater reputation and mental force, feel that he had met a gen- 
tleman and an equal. He was gentle, affable and kind, and his laugh 
was as winsome as that of a woman's, yet his commanding physical ap- 
pearance would have drawn the attention of even Frederick the Great 
himself. The history of Missouri could not be properly written with- 
out bringing forward prominently these two Gentry brothers. 

The part your father, Maj. William Gentry, performed, in bringing 
Col. Magoffin from his place of hiding and concealment, to the bedside 
of his dying wife, at the commencement of the Civil War, was beauti- 
fully written by George D. Prentice. It was one of the most touching 
scenes ever had in that part of the country, and it required the pen 
of such a man as Prentice to properly describe it. 

Very truly yours, 

Thos. T. Crittenden. 

Lexington, Mo., June 29, 1898. 
R. T. Gentry, Esq. 
Dear Sir and friend : — I am in receipt of your very kind favor of the 



314 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

28th instant, honoring me with an invitation to the reunion of the Gentry 
families. It would afford myself and family great pleasure to attend. 

Our fathers are gone to their reward, and I regret that I permitted 
mine to pass away without preserving in a more permanent way than 
that of trusting to my treacherous memory, the many pleasing incidents 
of his early and even later life, with which your family, the Gentrys, 
were connected. But alas ! like impetuous youth, I thought I would 
remember them, and transmit them to my posterity but in this I was 
mistaken. 

" Strange we never prize their music 
Till the sweet voiced birds are fled." 

Yet so it is with us, and so it is with me now in regard to the early 
friendships of our families. The details and incidents of a friendship, 
that started away back yonder in old Kentucky, and was transplanted 
by our fathers in their new homes in Missouri, is now mainly lost. 

My father came to Missouri before it was a state and settled at Old 
Franklin, in Howard Co. The very soil upon which that dear old his- 
toric town was situated, has long since been washed into the Gulf of 
Mexico by the Missouri River. My father was a lawyer and as such 
he brought letters from some of his friends and acquaintances, particularly 
the Gentrys, commending him, and in one of his first cases, he was 
employed by General Richard Gentry, who lived in Old Franklin in 
1820. 

After my father was appointed Judge in 1831, Pettis Co. became a part 
of his circuit, and the friendship with the Gentry family was refreshed, by 
his being thrown with your father and a number of other Gentrys of 
that county. 

My intimate acquaintance with Major William Gentry began in 1862 
when our peculiar and similar views of the late Civil War brought us 
together. I became strongly attached to him, and this friendship strength- 
ened and grew with our years, and when he died, I lamented his death, 
almost as David did that of Jonathan. 

His commanding appearance and stately bearing, attracted attention 
wherever he went. His dignity of character and pleasing address, won 
him the friendship of all who knew him, and his generous and noble 
nature tied his friends to him as with hooks of steel. He was honest 
and sincere in his purposes — free and outspoken in his sentiments, and 
just and upright in his dealing with men and with measures. Hence 
his opinions were always respected by others and his influence was felt 
and acknowledged by all. I am glad to say, that I believe he was 
generally, if not universally on the side of the right. 

I always esteemed it a privilege to be called his friend and to enjoy 
his friendship. Few men possessed in so great a degree, all the elements 
that make the true man. 

May your coming reunion be a joyous occasion, full of interest and 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 315 

profit, and that its results may tell for good upon the future generations 
of the Gentrys for all time. Should a memorial of the reunion be pub- 
lished, kindly send me a copy. 

Regretting that old age and other causes, compel me to absent my- 
self, I beg to remain the friend of the Gentrys and yours truly, 

John E. Ryland. 

Hon. F. M. Cockrell was a United States Senator from Mis- 
souri for many years ; Hon. Thomas T. Crittenden is an ex-gov- 
ernor of the state of Missouri, and the Hon. John E. Ryland was 
a prominent lawyer of Lexington, Mo. 

For an abstract of a most interesting paper read by Miss 
Susie Gentry, on the life of her great Uncle, the Hon. Meredith 
P. Gentry, of Tennessee, orator and statesman, see the bio- 
graphical sketch, in Part III, under family number 253. 



NEWSPAPER NOTES ON GENTRY REUNION. 

Notes of Wednesday told of the Gentry Reunion, and of over 200 
of the names at Crab Orchard. The reunion speech of Gen. W. H. 
Gentry was a model one, and speeches were made by Hon. T. P. Hill 
of Stanford, Miss Love Gentry of Harrodsburg, Ky., the Gentrys of 
Kansas City and Columbia, Mo., and papers were read by Miss Susie 
Gentry of Franklin, Tenn. It is a most wonderful and happy family 
reunion. 

Charles W. Gentry of Harrodsburg, only one of 19 children of 
Richard Gentry, the Kentucky Pioneer, present. One other, William 
James Gentry, lives in Euca, Indian Territory. 

Richard Gentry of Kansas City offered $100 to start a fund of $500 
to be used to collect facts about the Gentrys. 

Ex-Senator John D. Harris reminded a party of us that Jane Harris 
was the mother of 12 of the most prominent Gentrys, and remarked — 
" Craddock, the mothers make the men don't they?" 

Some of the Gentrys sing like larks, the sweet sounds reverberate 
through the extensive grounds. 

Mullens, the Lexington photographer, is taking a picture of the 
Gentrys. 

W. H. Bush of McKinney, Texas, is the only one of the Gentry 
kin here who was one of the Mexican War Veterans. He was at Cerro 
Gordo with Gen. Williams. 

Religious services were held in the forenoon on Thursday and a grand 
ball at night. Richard Gentry of Kansas City led the grand march, 



316 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

arrayed in the military uniform of his grandfather, who was killed in 
the Florida War, 61 years ago. 

A moonlight hay ride was one of the features Wednesday night. 

Saxon's band enlivened the occasion greatly. 

The old oil portraits of Gen. Richard Gentry, Col Joshua Gentry, 
Joseph Gentry, and of their sisters, Mrs. Jeremiah Bush and Mrs. Major 
James Blythe, were hung upon the walls of the halls, and seemed to 
look down and say, " Bless you my children." 

Thomas Benton Gentry of Kansas City, was so named because he was 
born in 1826, while his father Gen. Richard Gentry was State Senator 
in Mo., and materially aided his friend Senator Thomas H. Benton, in 
reelection to the U. S. Senate. Gen. Gentry was killed in battle in 1837. 
His flag and dress uniform were exhibited at the reunion. 

Four Parish sisters whose mother was a Gentry, met here for the first 
time for 30 years. 

Craig Shipp and wife, of Georgetown, Ky., formerly of Paris, were 
called home on Thurrday. As Mrs. Shipp was leaving, Dr. Gentry of 
Tenn. said : " She is the most superb of women — equal to those Colonial 
Dames of Tenn., in this Centennial Souvenir book." He was evidently 
proud of the " Dames " as his wife and daughters were among the 
portraits given. 

Overton Gentry of Independence, Mo., offers to head a monument fund 
with $100 — to be erected to the memory of his grandfather, Richard 
Gentry, the Ky. Pioneer. 

We signed in their albums : " J. Givens Craddock," of Paris, Ky., 
" Editor and Mexican War Veteran " — " a bachelor trying to marry a 
Gentry." 

Missouri had most attractive ladies in Mrs. Estill, nee Gentry, of 
Sedalia; Miss Elizabeth Gentry of Kansas City; Miss Mary Parish of 
Little Blue, Mo. ; Miss Susie Gentry, Tenn. Of course most of the 
single ladies were from Ky. 

The musical treats are indeed great treats : Mrs. Gen. W. H. Gentry 
presided at the piano, her son Lawrence at the violin or mandolin. Misses 
Baker, Smith and Martin of Lexington and Mrs. Wolf of Louisville, sing 
with rare force and beauty. 

Dr. Gentry of Tenn., is a nephew of the eloquent Congressman Meredith 
P. Gentry of Tenn. ; his daughter Miss Susie, read a fine tribute to her 
grand-uncle. 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 



317 



PARTIAL LIST OF THOSE PRESENT AT CRAB ORCHARD. 



Dovey Blythe Anderson, Lex- 
ington, Ky. 
James Blythe Anderson, Lex- 
ington, Ky. 

Mrs. James Blythe Anderson, 

Lexington, Ky. 
Eliza A. Blaine, Stanford, Ky. 

Valentine W. Bush, Sr., Win- 
chester, Ky. 

"Mrs. Valentine W. Bush, Sr., 
Winchester, Ky. 

Valentine W. Bush, Jr., Winches- 
ter, Ky. 

L. Hampton Bush, Winchester, 
Ky. 

Richard Henry Clay Bush, Win- 
chester, Ky. 

Ambrose G. Bush, Elkin, Ky. 

Walter H. Bush, Greenville, 
Texas. 

Mrs. Walter H. Bush, Greenville, 
Texas. 

William Martin Bush, McKinney, 
Texas. 

J. Porter Bush, Monroe City, 
Mo. 

Adaline Gentry Bowling, Han- 
nibal Mo. 

Martha Gentry Caldwell, Dan- 
ville, Ky. 

A. J. Caldwell, Danville, Ky. 

Peter Gentry Caldwell, Danville, 
Ky. 

Pattie Parish Chenault, Rich- 
mond, Ky. 

Tiff Chenault, Richmond, Ky. 

Mary Harris Clay, Paris, Ky. 

Nannie Gentry Estill, Sedalia, 
Mo. 

Mary V. Estill, Sedalia, Mo. 

Nannie Hocker Estill, Sedalia, 
Mo. 

James Robert Estill, Sedalia, Mo. 

Richard Gentry Estill, Sedalia, 
Mo. 



Betty Parish Ferrell, Richmond, 
Ky. 

Wm. F. Ferrell, Richmond, Ky. 

Absalom Gentry, Rockport, Ind. 

Allen Gentry, Rockport, Ind. 

Allen Gentry, Jr., Worthville, Ky. 

Allen T. Gentry, Wheatley, Ky. 

Andrew Jackson Gentry, Mt. 
Vernon, Ky. 

Blain Gentry, Newbern, Tenn. 

Celia Gentry, Mt. Vernon, Ky. 

Charles W. Gentry, Harrods- 
burgh, Ky. 

Mrs. Charles W. Gentry, Har- 
rodsburgh, Ky. 

Charles David Gentry, Mt. 
Vernon, Ky. 

Charles E. Gentry, Wheatley, Ky. 

Charles Henderson Gentry, Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Christian Valentine Gentry, Stan- 
ford, Ky. 

Mrs. Christian Valentine Gentry, 
Stanford, Ky. 

Christian Engleman Gentry, Stan- 
ford, Ky. 

David Coleman Gentry, Lexing- 
ton, Ky. 

Mrs. David Coleman Gentry, Lex- 
ington, Ky. 

David W. Gentry, Locust Branch, 
Ky. 

David R. Gentry, Level Green, 
Ky. 

Elizabeth B. Gentry, Kansas City, 
Mo. 

Elizabeth H. Gentry, Indepen- 
dence, Mo. 

Ella L. Gentry, Monroe City, Mo. 

Esther Virginia Gentry, Harrods- 
burgh, Ky. 

Farris Gentry, Stanford, Ky. 

Frank Gentry, Oxford, Miss. 

Frank K. Gentry, Monroe City, 
Mo. 



3i8 



THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



Frank M. Gentry, Sr., Donald- 

sonville, La. 
Mrs. Frank M. Gentry, Sr., Don- 

aldsonville, La. 
Frank M. Gentry, Jr., Donald- 

sonville, La. 
George Washington Gentry, Sr., 

Mt. Vernon, Ky. 
Mrs. George Washington Gentry, 

Sr., Mt. Vernon, Ky. 
George Washington Gentry, Jr., 

Mt. Vernon, Ky. 
Henry Clay Gentry, Sr., Mt. 

Vernon, Ky. 
Mrs. Henry Clay Gentry, Sr., Mt. 

Vernon, Ky. 
Henry Clay Gentry, Jr., Mt. 

Vernon, Ky. 
James W. Gentry, Gentryville, 

Ind. 
James Monroe Gentry, Shelby- 

ville, Mo. 
Mrs. James Monroe Gentry, Shel- 

byville, Mo. 
James B. Gentry, Stanford, Ky. 
Jesse Tyre Gentry, Mt. Vernon, 

Ky. 
John Thomas Gentry, Worthville, 

Ky. 
John R. Gentry, Sedalia, Mo. 
Joseph M. Gentry, Hannibal, Mo. 
Jael W. Gentry, Sedalia, Mo. 
Josiah Collins Gentry, Harrods- 

burgh, Ky. 
Julia H. Gentry, Danville, Ky. 
Jessie Gentry, Bloomington, Ind. 
Love S. Gentry, Nashville, Tenn. 
Lillie J. Gentry, Bloomington, 

Tnd. 
Lucy V. Gentry, Mt. Vernon, Ky. 
Laurance Gentry, Lexington, Ky. 
Lloyd Gentry, Lexington, Ky. ' 
Mrs. Lloyd Gentry, Lexington, 

Ky. 
Martin Gentry, Richmond, Ky. 
Mary Etta Gentry, Hannibal, 

Mo. 



Mary Clark Gentry, Stanford, 

Ky. 
Markes C. Gentry, New Liberty, 

Ky. 
Meshack Gentry. 
Mrs. Meshack Gentry. 
North Todd Gentry, Columbia, 

Mo. 
Mrs. North Todd Gentry, Colum- 
bia, Mo. 
Oliver Perry Gentry, Smithville, 

Mo. 
Overton A. Gentry, Quail, Ky. 
Mrs. Overton A. Gentry, Quail, 

Ky. 
Overton H. Gentry, Indepen- 
dence, Mo. 
Pearl Denny Gentry, Stanford, 

Ky. 
Pleasant E. Gentry, Wheatley, 

Ky. 
Reuben Gentry, New Liberty, Ky. 
Reuben Gentry, Danville, Ky. 
Richard Gentry, Danville, Ky. 
Richard Gentry, Kansas City, 

Mo. 
Richard T. Gentry, Sedalia, Mo. 
Richard H. Gentry, Bloomington, 

Ind. 
Richard Henry Gentry, Hannibal, 

Mo. 
Rosa J. Gentry, Mt. Vernon, 

Ky. 
Robert T. Gentry, Sonora, Ky. 
Smith Gentry, Lexington, Ky. 
Mrs. Smith Gentry, Lexington, 

Ky. 
Samuel K. Gentry, Harrodsburgh, 

Ky. 
Mrs. Samuel K. Gentry, Harrods- 

burgh, Ky. 
Susie Gentry, Franklin, Tenn. 
Susan F. Gentry, Richmond, Ky.. 
Thomas Benton Gentry, Kansas 

City, Mo. 
Mrs. Thomas Benton Gentry., 

Kansas City, Mo. 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 



319 



Thomas G. Gentry, Mt. Vernon, Harriet A. McCoy, Indianapolis, 

Ky. Ind. 

William Henry Harrison Gentry, Ella Bush McCoy, Indianapolis, 

Lexington, Ky. Ind. 

Mrs. William Henry Harrison Nancy Elkin Norris, Richmond, 

Gentry, Lexington, Ky. Ky. 

William Christopher Columbus Mary F. Oldham, Richmond, Ky. 

Gentry, Danville, Ky. Fannie Pennington, Mt. Vernon, 

Watson M. Gentry, Franklin, Ky. 

Tenn. John W. Parish, Richmond, Ky. 

Amanda Gentry Glascock, New Mrs. John W. Parish, Richmond, 

London, Mo. Ky. 

Henrietta Glascock, Hannibal, Armor Tribble Parish, Richmond, 



Mo. 

Henry Hobson Glascock, Han- 
nibal, Mo. 

Marshall Gordon, Columbia, Mo. 

Mrs. Marshall Gordon, Columbia, 
Mo. 

Betty I. Hunter, Winchester, 
Ky. 

Mary Lucy Hunter, Winchester, 
Ky. 

Melissa Bush Hunter, Win- 
chester, Ky. 

Richard D. Hunter, Winchester, 
Ky. 



Ky. 

Peter G. Parish, Richmond, Ky. 

Payton E. Parish, Richmond, Ky. 

Mary Boone Parish, Indepen- 
dence, Mo. 

Frank Gentry Robinson, Kansas 
City, Mo. 

Fannie G. Robinson, Kansas City, 
Mo. 

Pet L. Robinson, Kansas City, 
Mo. 

Jennie Ferrill Shipp, Georgetown, 
Ky. 

Henry C. Shipp, Georgetown, Ky. 



Richard Bush Hunter, Win- Janie Gentry Shelton, St. Louis, 

Chester, Ky. Mo. 

Nannie White Harris, Richmond, Bettie Gentry Skinner, St. Louis, 



Ky. 

John D. Harris, Richmond, Ky. 
Jennie Parish Lynch, Huntsville, 

Ala. 
H. J. Lynch, Huntsville, Ala. 
Annie Parish Myers, Richmond, 

Ky. 
David Gentry Martin, Brassfield, 

Ky. 



Mo. 
Ann R. Skinner, St. Louis, Mo. 
Harry D. Skinner, St. Louis, Mo. 
Lemuel Thomas Stringer, Shep- 

ardsville, Ky. 
Harriet Gentry Terhune, Har- 

rodsburgh, Ky. 
Nannie Gentry Vanarsdall, Har- 

rodsburgh, Ky. 



320 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



SECOND GENTRY FAMILY REUNION 

Meramec Highlands, Mo., August, 1899. 

The second Gentry Family Reunion was held at Meramer 
Highlands, near St. Louis, Mo., the first week of August, 1899. 

The following notice and invitation was mailed to the Gentry 
Family and published in the newspapers : 

" At the reunion of the Gentry Family held at Crab Orchard Springs, 
Ky., in Aug., 1898, there was formed a Gentry Family Association of 
the United States, for the purpose of collecting and preserving the 
history of the family, bringing together its various branches and 
members into a closer acquaintance, and a broader family interest ; to 
inspire, our young people with a worthy family pride; make them 
familiar with our family history; its Anglo-Norman origin, its early 
settlement in Virginia, its services to the country, in Colonial, Revolu- 
tionary and other wars, and its march across the continent with that 
hardy race of pioneers, who opened the way for progress, and civiliza- 
tion ; and to impress the fact, that the now changed conditions of our 
country and society, demand a new adjustment and proper equipment, a 
progressive spirit, and a modern education to grasp the splendid op- 
portunities of the present and future American Citizenship. 

" For the double purpose then of benefit and pleasure, we invite all 
the Gentry and their kin, to meet with us at our second family reunion 
at " Meramec Highlands," a suburb of St. Louis, Mo., the first week 
of August, 1899. We will find splendid accommodations and beautiful 
grounds. The hotel makes for our reunion a special rate of $1.50 per 
day. The city of St. Louis is within easy reach, being connected by both 
steam and electric roads. 

" Another object is to collect all the facts of history and genealogy 
of the family, and print them in book form, and preserve them for 
future generations. 

" Enclosed find a blank form for insertion of your lineage from 
Gentry ancestry, which please fill out as best you can, and mail to 
Richard Gentry of Kansas City, Mo., chairman of the committee to 
collect such data. The work of preparing a family history and genealogy 
is an arduous task, requiring time and patience, and the committee needs 
and solicits all the assistance possible in the collection of facts from 
every branch of the family." 

In response to the call for a second reunion of the Gentrys, 
about two hundred members of the family assembled at Mera- 
mec Highlands and spent the entire week. 

A more beautiful and appropriate spot could not have been 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 321 

found in the state for a family reunion. The spacious " High- 
land's Inn," with its adjoining cottages, perched upon the bluff's 
that overlook the green valley where winds the historical Mera- 
mec River, was not only comfortable, but it and its surround- 
ings were beautiful. 

The first formal meeting was held in the assembly room of 
the hotel on the evening of August 1, 1899. The address of 
welcome was made by William R. Gentry, of St. Louis, Mo., 
a promising young lawyer, formerly of Columbia, Mo., and 
responses were made by L. Hampton Bush, of Winchester, Ky., 
and by the Honorable John D. Harris, of Madison Co., Ky. 

Excursions to various points of interest were made during 
the week ; entertainments and musicals were given in addition 
to the usual family meetings. The young people found 
pleasure in wandering through the picturesque grounds or in 
jboating on the river, while the older ones gathered on the 
breezy porches or under the shade trees and listened to the 
stories of early days in Kentucky and Missouri, told by some 
old patriarch of the family. The hardships and dangers, the 
joys and happiness, and the adventures and thrilling experiences 
of the early pioneers, were still fresh in the memories of the 
old Gentry, and made an ever interesting subject of conversation. 

At one meeting, in addition to other features of the pro- 
gramme, instrumental and vocal music were provided, and sev- 
eral short talks were made. 

Before the close of the week a business meeting was held, 
and new directors and officers of the Gentry Family Associa- 
tion were elected, as follows: 

President — Richard Gentry, of Kansas City, Mo. 
Secretary and Treasurer — North Todd Gentry, of Columbia, 

Missouri. 
The Executive Committee was as follows: 
Richard Gentry, Kansas City, Mo. 
Frank G. Robinson, Kansas City, Mo. 
Dr. D. T. Smith, Louisville, Ky. 
James P. Gentry, Memphis, Tenn. 
Richard H. Gentry, Bloomington, Ind. 
L. Hampton Bush, Winchester, Ky. 



322 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

VERSES WRITTEN BY MRS. MARY GENTRY PAXTON, OF INDEPEND- 
ENCE, MO., A GRANDDAUGHTER OF GEN. GENTRY. 

Sickness prevented her attendance, but these verses were read 
at the reunion: 

Sing Muse, who oft in sundry age and clime 
Inspired the bard, to weave in glowing rhyme 
Heroic songs which stirred the hearts of men, 
Speak thou through me, guide thou my feeble pen. 

Not of that Grecian, thy illustrious son 
Ulysses great, the Trojan battle won; 
Nor of Aeneas who through Juno's ire, 
Was cast by Neptune on the coast of Tyre. 

Nor yet would I like Dante go with thee 
To Pluto's realm and all its horrors see ; 
Nor sing with Milton of Man's sin and fall ; 
With Goethe great, old myths of Faust recall. 

Such themes, immortal made by tongue and pen, 
Need not my humble lines, nor I again 
Shall cry thy wondrous virtues and recall 
What's sung by poets and been praised by all. 

Deign thou, O Muse, a lower flight to wing, 
Lend me thine aid an humble lay to sing ; 
To praise in verse the noble Gentry name 
Unsung by bard, unheralded by fame. 

I'd sing, O Muse, of how two sturdy trees 

From England's soil, brought o'er the stormy seas 

Were planted here to grow in virgin soil 

Where earth was rich, broad streams on every hand. 

The trees took root, they flourished, lived, and grew, 
Tho' fierce the storms and loud the rough winds blew; 
Such battles courage gave, such storms and strife 
Made roots strike deep, secured their homes and life. 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 323 

'Twas thus the first two Gentrys crossed the sea 
And broke the sod to plant their family tree; 
What then so small in root and branch and bough 
Yet to what vast proportions rises now. 

What troublous times our people passed through then 
To reclaim the land, so dear, from savage men, 
Thro' all the conflicts, wars, though not a few 
The Gentrys did their part and proved them true. 

When Braddock with the brave young Washington 

Bore the defeat, the French the victory won, 

A Gentry, too, right nobly did his part, 

Fought for his country with brave hope and heart. 

Fain would I tell of Gentrys, yet a score ; 
James, George, John, Joseph, Richard and still more 
Who bravely strove for justice, truth and right, 
'Gainst England's tyrant ; proved that right was might. 

James, David, Richard, with Old Tippecanoe, 
Fought gallantly on northern waters blue, 
Their cousins at New Orleans did their best 
With our brave leader, Jackson, and the rest. 

Among the men who fought 'gainst Mexico 
George Gentry met his death by cruel foe. 
His brother William too was in the strife 
Bravely defended his country with his life. 

When men were sent from all over our land 

To Florida's shores to exterminate the band 

Of cruel Indians of the Seminole tribe, 

Their crimes so gross, my pen will not describe. 

Gen. Richard Gentry answered to the call : 
To serve his country, left his home, his all, 
Save one loved son, who lived to bear his sword 
And bring to sorrowing wife, his dying word. 



324 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Speak softly while our hero's name we breathe, 
Around his brow the laurel we would weave ; 
Above his grave let stripes forever wave, 
He gave his life his countrymen to save. 

The Gentrys loved their homes, in times of peace 
They cultivate their lands, their fields increased, 
Broad acres stretch for miles in emerald green, 
Their cattle on a thousand hills is seen. 

All could not greatness claim, nor honors wear, 
All cannot glory bring the name they bear ; 
Yet honest lives and just toward man and friend 
Secures God's commendation in the end. 

O Muse, when the recording one shall stand, 
With open book and slowly moving hand, 
Beside the name of Gentry will he pen, 
Well done my sons ye have behaved like men. 

Let us who represent the present race, 
Move on with progress, let each one keep pace; 
Be not content on glories past to wait, 
Just trying good men's deeds to emulate. 

The world still moves, we'll help to make it move, 
Striving for truth and right, with strength and love. 
Let's weave indelibly the Gentry name 
With our nation's welfare in tongues of flame. 



ADDRESS BY THOMAS BENTON GENTRY. 

At another meeting, the Hon. Thomas Benton Gentry, of Kan- 
sas City Mo., made an address, in part as follows : 

My Dear Relations and Friends: 

I wish to talk to you, especially to the younger portion of our 
family, in a plain and familiar way, just as an older brother, 
for the good of the whole family, who are now numbered by the 
hundreds throughout the United States. 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 325 

The matters I wish to speak to you about I regard of great 
importance, and I hope you will bear with me as I present them 
to you, and give them your earnest consideration ; and if I am 
correct in regard to them, I hope in future you will act on the 
suggestions offered. 

I call your attention to the necessity and importance of the 
constant improvement of our family, mentally, morally and physi- 
cally. This is an age of improvement and we must not be be- 
hind the age. We must march in the column of progress and 
be up to date with the best of our fellows. 

As business men and money makers, the Gentrys have gen- 
erally succeeded fairly well. But, my dear relations, let me tell 
you confidentially, not to be repeated out of the family, that 
bravery, wisdom, good citizenship, and business prosperity are 
not enough ; we should not be satisfied as a family without greater 
achievements. Let us remember we have never yet furnished 
this country with a president, a cabinet officer, or a United States 
Senator. And why have we not furnished the country with 
some of these high officers, with more statesmen, eminent scien- 
tists, discoverers and inventors? The secret is, my dear rela- 
tives, we have not paid enough attention to education, and the 
improvement of our family, by wise and judicious marriage. 
Great men cannot be reared without great mothers. 

Our young women are too often thoughtless in the matter 
of selecting partners for life ; and our young men have been 
too busy with their farms, their stock raising, and money mak- 
ing, and have too often neglected education and the cultiva- 
tion of the intellect. They have carefully studied the finest 
strains of Berkshires, Durhams, Holsteins, and Herefords; 
looked closely into the pedigrees of the finest race horses ; stud- 
ied the advantages of proper crossing in stock breeding and 
have too often overlooked the fact, that the same rules of good 
stock breeding apply also to the human family. 

I most earnestly call your attention to these matters and as a 
brother urge you henceforth to be exceedingly careful and 
wise, in the contraction of matrimonial alliances. Choose none 
but the very best stock, and then with proper education and 
training, you may expect to raise statesmen, orators, great 
preachers, and men of genius and great ability, as well as the 



326 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

well balanced, solid farmer and man of business. The early 
training of your children is a most important matter. You can- 
not be too careful to teach and train them with the highest 
standard of morality and religion. 

Let honor and honesty, reverence for God's laws, and respect 
for the rights of their fellowmen form the basis of their con- 
duct, have them form and maintain habits of sobriety, industry 
and frugality, and then with a good education, you will rear for 
the country men and women that will honor themselves, the 
family and their country. 

To the individual member of our great and numerous family, 
striving for honor and success in the battle of life, I give the 
advice; do not depend on the glory and achievements of your 
ancestors, or on the large number and respectability of your 
relations, but depend on yourself. You must possess merit 
and win success by your own individual effort. 

It is pleasant to belong to a numerous and honorable family; 
it is an incentive to us to make higher attainments ; and these 
family reunions are most delightful for social enjoyment, and 
mental improvement, but let us always remember both the truth 
contained, and the advice given, in the old familiar couplet: 

" Honor and fame from no condition rise. 
Act well your part, there all the honor lies." 



NEWSPAPER NOTES. 

Meramec Highlands, August 2nd, 1899. 
Inn full of Gentrys ! Meramec Highlands, crowded with the clans. 
A great family reunion. Gathered from many states to pass a week to- 
gether in comradeship. 

They have come from town and village, 

From the city and the tillage 

Of their farms, to gather, gather in the Inn at Meramec; 

For the call to every Gentry 

Has gone forth throughout the " kentry," 

And has bidden each and all of them to come and not hold back. 

There are Gentrys big and little 

Gentrys large and small, and it'll 



GENTRY FAMILY REUNIONS 327 

Be a matter so hard to trace the kinship 'mongst them, for — 

There are Richards, T.'s and H.'s, 

Old and young Dicks, and each takes his 

Satisfaction in the thought that Old Dick fathered many more. 

There's Elizabeth, the mother, 

And Elizabeth, the other, 

Who is daughter, pretty daughter, of Elizabeth G., too ; 

And their men folks rally round them, 

While each strange one's glad he found them, 

And their many cousins-German pass for places in review. 

For this gallant tribe of Gentry 

On its books has many an entry, 

And of good old fighting, fighting stock its father came of yore; 

Then here's to the clan that's gathered ! 

If I change my name, I'd rather't 

Would be to that of Gentry! May it live for evermore. 

" Telegram for Gentry ! " 

A small " bell-boy " shouted this on the broad veranda of the Inn at 
Meramec Highlands Tuesday evening. One hundred and three persons 
rose simultaneously to claim it and the messenger grew pale and fled, 
leaving the missive for whoever wished it. 

" I came to see Miss Gentry ; please send up my card," said the dapper 
youth in the high collar, to the clerk at the Inn. 

"Which one? There are 22 here!" was the startling reply. 

" Miss Elizabeth Gentry," replied the surprised young man. 

"Which one? There are seven Miss Elizabeth Gentrys here!" the 
clerk answered. 

"For heaven's sake!" replied he of the collar, "is that so? But I 
can't tell you any more definitely than she is Miss Elizabeth Gentry, and 
she's pretty." 

" They are all pretty," sententiously replied the keeper of the keys. 

" Well, never mind. I can't talk to seven pretty Elizabeth Gentrys 
all at once ! " and he left. . . . 

" Richard Gentry wanted at the 'phone ! " called the Bell operator. 

Seventeen Richard Gentrys arose and made towards the Innkeeper's 
box. By the time the eleventh had said he wasn't the one wanted, the 
man at the other end of the wire had wilted and rung off. . . . 

" Mistah Gentry wants a mint julep," said the dusky servitor in the 
white apron. " Here, you," called the barkeeper to his assistant, " git 
everybody what kin make a julep. I'm 41 behind after I get this one made. 
Some Gentry's just ordered one, and I don't know which one, an' it's 
shorter to make em one apiece than t' look fer the one what ordered it. 
Get a hustle on you and hurry up with the cuttin' o' that mint-bed; my 
stock's shy." 



328 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

" Mrs. Gentry says she wants her eggs hard," said the waiter in the 
dining-room, " and she wants two." 

" You, there ! " shouted the head cook, " fix 38 hard eggs ; there's 
19 Mrs. Gentrys in the dining-room now ! " 

"Hello, Dick Gentry! " 

"Hello yourself, Dick Gentry!" 

"Say, Dick, what relation are you to me?" 

" I dunno ; do you ? " 

" No, I don't ; but we're the same name." 

" Let's ask Dick Gentry." 

And the two called on Col. Dick Gentry of Kansas City, who knows 
it all, and that Dick Gentry questioned the two Dick Gentrys and found 
that they were cousins, three degrees removed, while one was the uncle 
of the other, and the other was also the brother-in-law of the first one, 
while the first one was the other's son-in-law. 

Of course the original old Dick Gentry is gone; he died years ago. 
But he left 16 sons and 3 daughters, and the habit of rearing large fam- 
ilies, and the habit and the families have grown, till now there are over 
10,000 of these Gentrys, and more than 125 of them are Dick Gentrys, 
too. Of course all of them are not in the Inn now, but enough there to 
make a very good showing. Their fathers were mostly from Kentucky, 
and their grandfathers from Virginia, but now most of them claim Mis- 
souri as their state. 

What are the Gentrys doing? Trying most of the time to figure out 
what relationship they sustain one to the other. Col. Dick Gentry of 
Kansas City is the historian of the family and sits at the main roots of 
the family tree, and spends much of his time tracing out the ramifica- 
tions of the various branches of the tree. He knows every branch, stem 
and leaf, and that's why the visitors who wish to know their kinship 
go to him. 

There is no formality at the Gentry gathering. If you are a Gentry, 
or descended from a Gentry, you are welcome, and you meet your cous- 
ins, and your uncles, and your aunts, and all sorts of kinsfolk, and chat 
with them and become better acquainted, have a good time and exchange 
facts and experiences — in short, have a reunion. 

But if you are not a Gentry, don't go to the Inn just now, for you 
won't be in it — which is not a pun, but a fact. 



PART V 

HISTORICAL SKETCHES, WAR RECORDS 
AND UNITED STATES CENSUS REPORT 

THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF TENNESSEE, BY THE AUTHOR 

The early history of Tennessee presents one of the most 
tragic periods of American history, and inasmuch as a num- 
ber of Gentrys from Virginia and North Carolina were among 
its very earliest pioneers and permanent settlers, I have thought 
it proper to relate some of the prominent facts and tragedies 
connected with its early settlement. 

The colony of North Carolina was a proprietary colony, 
granted by Charles II on the 24th of March, 1662, and included 
the present state of North Carolina and all the territory west 
of it to the Mississippi river. 

The territory between the Alleghany mountains and the Miss- 
issippi river, the Tennessee river on the south and the Ohio on 
the north was a vast unoccupied country, now included in the 
great states of Kentucky and Tennessee. It had been claimed 
for a hundred years by the Six Nations of the North by right of 
conquest. It had, however, been ceded to the King of Great 
Britain at the treaty of Ft. Stanwix, in 1766, after the close of 
the French and Indian wars. It was the great hunting ground 
for the Indians from the north and from the south. Game was 
in great abundance, and its rich soil and fertile valleys were as 
alluring to the white man east of the Alleghanies, as the land 
of Canaan was to the Israelites. 

As early as 1761 several large hunting parties came from 
Virginia and Pennsylvania and spent considerable time in the 
wilderness. Daniel Boone also came from the Yadkin River, in 
North Carolina, at the head of a party and hunted in the wil- 
derness for eighteen months. 

Eastern Tennessee began to be permanently settled in the 
winter of 1768-9; ten families from Raleigh, N. C, settled on 
the Watauga River. The next largest migration was from the 



33° THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

" Regulators," mainly Western North Carolina farmers, whom 
Governor Tryon, the Royal Governor, had defeated at the bat- 
tle of the Alamance, May 16, 1771. Judge Haywood, in his 
history of Tennessee, states: That the trade of North Carolina 
was all in the hands of Scotch merchants, and the patronage and 
offices of profit and authority through the favor of the Royal 
Governor, both in country and in town, were in the hands of 
either Scotch or English ; a proud, brutal set, who domineered 
and oppressed the people, until they rose in desperation and 
madness and opposed the Royal Governor in battle at the Ala- 
mance. The Regulators were defeated, two hundred of them 
killed, some of them were hung after being taken prisoners, and 
others fled to the mountains. Under these distressing circum- 
stances large numbers of emigrants began to move from North 
Carolina to the Watauga River settlement in Eastern Tennes- 
see. It was only a few years, however, until this condition of 
things was materially changed ; the province of North Carolina 
was soon forced into a state of the American Union, and the 
oath of allegiance to the new state was offered to the people, 
as a test between its friends and enemies. This whole body of 
Scotch tyrants, being Tories, with few exceptions refused to 
take the oath and left the United States. (See Haywood's His- 
tory of Tenn., pp. 50-51.) 

In 1780, near the close of our Revolutionary War, Lord Corn- 
wallis was overrunning North and South Carolina, having de- 
feated General Gates at Camden, S. C. ; a great panic took pos- 
session of the patriots of the South, and the Tories increased 
in number and boldness. Major Ferguson, with his regiment 
of British Red Coats, was sent into the western part of North 
Carolina to rally the Tories and bid defiance to the mountaineers. 
These rugged pioneers, headed by Colonel Campbell, John Se- 
vier and the Shelbys, came down from the settlements in East- 
ern Tennessee, pursued, overtook and killed Ferguson and cap- 
tured his entire army, and won the pivotal victory of the Revo- 
lution — the battle of * King's Mountain." This victory put 
consternation in the hearts of the Tories, revived the spirits of 
the patriots, and started Cornwallis on the retreat, which ended 
in his surrender at Yorktown, Oct. 19, 1781. 

The Tennessee pioneers still encountered unsurpassed hard- 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 331 

ships and dangers for many years ; from the time of the first 
settlement until Tennessee was made a state, in March, 1796, 
it was subject to a constant warfare, with all the barbaric sav- 
agery known to the Southern Indians. " The history of Ten- 
nessee contains as much intense tragedy and elevated romance 
as is found in the history of any modern people." Haywood's 
history gives the details of over four hundred tragedies, with 
the names of those killed, scalped or taken prisoner. Before 
the Revolution the British agents furnished the Cherokees, Choc- 
taws and Chickasaws with guns and ammunition, and in every 
way encouraged them in their depredations on the settlers. Dur- 
ing the Revolution these Indians were British allies, and 
after the war they became the allies of the Spaniards of the 
South, and continued their depredations. 

On account of their remoteness these Tennessee pioneers had 
to make their own laws, govern themselves, and fight their own 
battles. After the Revolution they organized as a state, which 
they called the state of " Franklin," and elected John Sevier 
as their governor; but North Carolina claimed the territory and 
made objection, and the State of Franklin was overthrown, 
after two years of quarrel and conflict, and North Carolina 
controlled and claimed the territory until the State of Tennessee 
was organized in 1796. 

In these trying times in the settlement of Tennessee, we find 
among the bold pioneers a number of Gentrys from both Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina. Robert Gentry was one of the first 
settlers in Jefferson Co., Tenn., in 1783. * He came from Albe- 
marle Co., Va., with a large family. He was one of the seven 
sons of Nicholas Gentry of that county, a son of Nicholas Gen- 
try, the immigrant. He built his home four miles east of Dan- 
dridge, Tenn., on the French Broad River. Traditon tells us 
that some of his descendants were killed and others taken captive 
by the Indians. 

Nicholas Gentry, 2 with his family, followed James Robertson 
to Davidson Co., Tenn. He and his oldest son were caught by 
the Indians outside of the fort, near the present site of Nash- 
ville, and killed in 1782. 



1 Ramsey's History Tennessee, p. 277. 

2 Haywood History Tennessee, p. 219. 



332 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

" In the month of April, 1787, the Indians killed Randel Gen- 
try at the place where Mr. Foster now lives." 3 

Colonel James Brown, 4 a Revolutionary soldier of the North 
Carolina line, attempted to emigrate to the Cumberland settle- 
ment in 1788, to enter into possession of the lands allotted to 
him for military services. He built a boat on the Holston River 
and tried to descend it to the Tennessee, believing- this route 
less hazardous than Robertson's route through Cumberland Gap. 
He had with him his whole family, wife, five sons, two of whom 
were grown, four small daughters, several negroes, and five 
young men — J. Bays, John Flood, John Gentry, William Gentry 
and John Griffin. Colonel Brown's oldest sons were James and 
John Brown. They embarked on the 4th of May and were cap- 
turned by the Indians about the 10th, all of the men and ne- 
groes were killed and the wife and small children were carried 
off as prisoners. One of his small sons lived to be rescued and 
became a prominent man. He made many campaigns against 
the Indians, recaptured several of his family, and punished the 
Indians very severely. 

A little later, a large number of Gentry s from Virginia and 
North Carolina made permanent settlements in Tennessee, the 
most prominent of whom were Watson Gentry from Rocking- 
ham Co., N. C, and his sons, including the great Whig orator, 
the Hon. Meredith P. Gentry, and their descendants. 



3 Haywood, p. 238. 

4 Ramsey's History of Tennessee, p. 508-516. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 333 



"BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN." 

By Major Benjamin Sharp, an Eye-Witness. 
(From "American Pioneer," Vol. II, 1843, p. 66.) 

Mr. J. S. Williams: 

As well as I can remember, some time in August, in the year 
1780, Colonel McDowell, of North Carolina, with 300 or 400 
men fled over the mountains to the settlements of Holston and 
Watauga, to evade the pursuit of a British officer by the name 
of Ferguson, who had the command of a large detachment of 
British and Tories. Our militia speedily embodied, all mounted 
on horses — the Virginians under the command of Colonel Wil- 
liam Campbell, and the two western counties of North Carolina 
(now Tennessee) under the Colonels Isaac Shelby and John 
Sevier, and as soon as they joined McDowell, he recrossed the 
mountains and formed a junction with Colonel Cleveland with 
a fine regiment of North Carolina militia. We were now fifteen 
or eighteen hundred strong, and considered ourselves equal in 
numbers, or at least a match for the enemy, and eager to bring 
them to battle ; but Colonel McDowell, who had the command, 
appeared to think otherwise, for although Ferguson had re- 
treated on our crossing the mountains, he kept us marching and 
countermarching for eight or ten days without advancing a step 
towards our object. At length a council of the field-officers was 
convened, and it was said in camp, how true I will not pretend 
to say, that he refused in council to proceed without a general 
officer to command the army, and to get rid of him the council 
deputed him to General Green, at headquarters, to procure a 
general. Be this as it may, as soon as the council rose Colonel 
McDowell left the camp, and we saw no more of him during the 
expedition. 

As soon as he was fairly gone, the council reassembled and 
appointed William Campbell our commander, and within one 
hour after we were on our horses and in full pursuit of the 
enemy. The British still continued to retreat and after hard 



334 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

marching for some time, we found our progress much retarded 
by our footmen and weak horses that were not able to sustain 
the duty. It was then resolved to leave the foot and weak 
horses under the command of Captain William Neil, of Virginia, 
with instructions to follow as fast as his detachment could bear. 
Thus disencumbered, we gained fast upon the enemy. I think 
on the 7th day of October, in the afternoon, we halted at a place 
called the Cow Pens, in South Carolina, fed our horses and ate 
a hasty meal of such provisions as we had procured, and by 
dark mounted our horses, marched all night, and crossed Broad 
River by the dawn of day, and although it rained considerably 
in the morning, we never halted to refresh ourselves or horses. 
About twelve o'clock it cleared off with a fine cool breeze. We 
were joined that day by Colonel Williams, of South Carolina, 
with several hundred men, and in the afternoon fell in with 
three men who informed us that they were just from the British 
camp, that they were posted on the top of King's Mountain, and 
that there was a picket guard on the road not far ahead of us. 
These men were detained lest they should find means to inform 
the enemy of our approach, and Colonel Shelby, with a select 
party, undertook to surprise and take the picket ; this he accom- 
plished without firing a gun or giving the least alarm, and it was 
hailed by the army as a good omen. 

We then marched on, and as we approached the mountain 
the roll of the British drum informed us that we had something 
to do. No doubt the British commander thought his position a 
strong one, but the plan of our attack was such as to make it 
the worst for him he could have chosen. The end of the moun- 
tains to our left descended gradually to a branch ; in front of us 
the ascent was rather abrupt, and to the right was a low gap, 
through which the road passed. The different regiments were 
directed by guides to the ground they were to occupy, so as to 
surround the eminence on which the British were encamped — 
Campbell's to the right, along the road ; Shelby's next, to the 
left of him ; Sevier's next, and so on, till at last the left of Cleve- 
land's joined the right of Campbell's, on the other side of the 
mountain, at the road. 

Thus the British major found himself attacked on all sides 
at once, and so situated as to receive a galling fire from all parts 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 335 

of our lines, without doing any injury to ourselves. From this 
difficulty he attempted to relieve himself at the point of the 
bayonet, but failed in three successive charges. Cleveland, who 
had the farthest to go, being bothered in some swampy ground, 
did not occupy his position in the line till late in the engagement. 
A few men, drawn from the right of Campbell's regiment, occu- 
pied this vacancy. This the British commander discovered, and 
here he made his last powerful effort to force his way through 
and make his escape ; but at that instant Cleveland's regiment 
came up in gallant style; the Colonel himself came up by the 
very spot I occupied, at which time his horse had received two 
wounds, and he was obliged to dismount. Although fat and un- 
wieldy, he advanced on foot with signal bravery, but was soon 
remounted by one of his officers, who brought him another horse. 
This threw the British and Tories into complete disorder, and 
Ferguson, seeing that all was lost, determined not to survive 
the disgrace ; he broke his sword and spurred his horse into the 
thickest of our ranks and fell covered with wounds, and shortly 
after his whole army surrendered at discretion. The action 
lasted about one hour and for most of the time was fierce and 
bloody. 

I cannot clearly recall the statement of our loss, given at the 
time, but my impression now is that it was two hundred and 
twenty-five killed, and about as many or a few more, wounded. 
The loss of the enemy must have been much greater. The re- 
turn of the prisoners taken was eleven hundred and thirty-three, 
about fifteen hundred stand of arms, several baggage wagons, 
and all their camp equipage fell into our hands. The battle 
closed not far from sundown, so that we had to encamp on the 
ground with the dead and wounded, and pass the night among 
groans and lamentations. 

The next day, as soon as we could bury our dead and provide 
litters to carry our wounded, we marched off to recover the 
upper country, for fear of being intercepted by a detachment 
from the army of Lord Cornwallis, for we were partly behind 
his quarters, between him and the British garrison of Ninety- 
Six. A British surgeon, with some assistants, was left to attend 
their wounded, but the wounded Tories were unprovided for, 
and their dead left for their bones to bleach upon the mountain. 



33& THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

That afternoon we met Captain Neil coming on with his detach- 
ment, and encamped for the night on a large deserted Tory plan- 
tation, where there was a sweet potato patch sufficiently large to 
supply the whole army. This was most fortunate, for not one in 
fifty of us had tasted food for the last two days and nights; 
that is, since we left the Cow Pens. Here the next morning we 
buried Colonel Williams, who had died of his wounds on the 
march the day before. We still proceeded towards the moun- 
tains as fast as our prisoners could bear. 

When we had gained a position where we thought ourselves 
secure from a further pursuit, the army halted for a day, and 
a court was detailed to inquire into various complaints against 
certain Tories for murders, robberies, house-burnings, etc. The 
court found upwards of forty of them guilty of the crimes 
charged upon them, and sentenced them to be hung; and nine 
of the most atrocious offenders were executed that night by fire- 
light ; the rest were reprieved by the commanding officer. 

We set off early next morning, and shortly after the rain 
began to fall in torrents and continued the whole day; but, in- 
stead of halting, we rather mended our pace in order to cross 
the Catawba River before it should rise and intercept us. This 
we effected late in the night and halted by a large plantation, 
where Major McDowell (brother to the Colonel, and who com- 
manded his brother's regiment the whole route, and was a brave 
and efficient officer) rode along the lines and informed us that 
the plantation belonged to him, and kindly invited us to take 
rails from his fences and make fires to warm and dry us. I 
suppose everyone felt grateful for this generous offer, for it was 
rather cold, being the last of October, and everyone, from the 
commander-in-chief to the meanest private, was as wet as if he 
had been just dragged through the Catawba River. We rested 
here one day and then proceeded, by easy marches, to the heads 
of the Yadkin River, where we were relieved by the militia of the 
country and permitted to return home, which those of us who had 
not fallen in battle or died of wounds, effected some time in 
November. 

During the whole of this expedition, except a few days at the 
outset, I neither tasted bread or salt, and this was the case with 
nearly every man. When we could get meat, which was but 



\ 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 337 

seldom, we had to roast and eat it without either; sometimes 
we got a few potatoes, but our standing and principal ration 
was ears of corn, scorched in the fire or eaten raw. Such was 
the price paid by the men of the Revolution for our independ- 
ence. 

Here I might conclude, but I cannot forbear offering a small 
tribute of respect to the memory of our commanding officers. 
Colonel Williams fell ; Cleveland I have already spoken of ; 
Sevier I did not see in the battle, but his bravery was well at- 
tested. Three times my eye fell upon our gallant commander, 
calm and collected, encouraging the men and assuring them of 
victory. At the close of the action, when the British were loudly 
calling for quarter, but uncertain whether it would be 
granted, I saw the intrepid Shelby rush his horse within fifteen 
paces of their lines and command them to lay down their arms 
and they should have quarter. Some would call this an im- 
prudent act, but it showed the daring bravery of the man. I am 
led to believe that three braver men or purer patriots never trod 
the soil of freedom than Campbell, Shelby and Sevier. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Bent. Sharp. 

Benjamin Sharp is the author's great-grandfather. He set- 
tled in Montgomery Co., Mo., in 1816, with a large family which 
he brought from Lee Co., Va., and after a useful life died in 
1843. 



338 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



MEREDITH POINDEXTER GENTRY. 
By Alexander H. Stephens. 

Among the reminiscences of his Congressional life, few are 
more pleasant or agreeable to the writer or cherished with 
greater fondness by him than those connected with Meredith 
P. Gentry. This distinguished American orator and statesman 
was born on the 15th day of September, 1809, in the county of 
Rockingham, N. C. That conspicuous part, however, which he 
acted in the great drama of life and which justly entitles him to 
a high place in his country's history was performed as a citizen 
of Tennessee. Both of these States, therefore, have reason to 
be proud of his fame. 

He was the youngest of twelve children. There were six 
brothers and five sisters older than he. His father was a man 
of energy and industry and of above ordinary intelligence and 
culture for his day and locality. By strict economy and thrift 
he had, as the patriarchs of old, gathered around him quite a 
number of " menservants and maidservants," and had acquired 
an estate far above the average of his neighbors. His mother, 
Theodosia Poindexter, is said to have been a woman of great 
personal beauty, as well as possessed of a strong and vigorous 
mind, distinguished especially for quick perception, nice discrim- 
ination, and extraordinarily good judgment. In manner, she 
was most agreeable and fascinating, and was the center of the 
social circle wherever she went. 

His father, in 181 3, when Meredith was quite a boy, sought a 
home in the rich lands of Williamson Co., Tenn., at a place near 
what is known as College Grove. He was a farmer or planter 
of extensive means for that country and at that time ; but schools 
in Williamson Co. were then few and far between, and hence 
Meredith was without any favorable opportunity of obtaining 
an education of that character which would have been suited to 
his condition and nature. A life-long friend writes that his 
school days terminated at the age of 14 years, " with nothing 
but an acquaintance with the rudiments of an English educa- 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 339 

tion." The same friend says that " after leaving school he re- 
sided with his father and mother and devoted much of his time 
and attention to matters connected with the farm and its general 
business management. He always liked to go to the post office 
for the mail, and was passionately fond of reading newspapers, 
and especially the National Intelligencer and other papers pub- 
lished at Washington City. At this youthful period of his life 
he took a great interest in reading the speeches on both sides 
of every subject by leading statesmen who were in Congress 
from 1824 to 1830. He read all these, and became inspired by 
the patriotic tone of the leading men of that period." The Na- 
tional Intelligencer at that time published a regular report of 
the debates in Congress. The same friend also adds that " he 
had great fondness for books, particularly the English classics, 
especially Milton, Pope, Dryden, Addison and Shakespeare." 
He might have added Burns and Byron, for his conversations 
and speeches showed that these were favorites with him. 

At an early day he took a fancy for military life and joined a 
militia company, of which he was elected captain, and was soon 
elected colonel of the regiment. This was before he reached 21 
years of age. During his canvass for the colonelcy he made his 
first public speech, and displayed a power of oratory surprising 
to all who heard him. 

He was urged immediately to become a candidate for the 
Legislature. He accepted the nomination and made another 
canvass, which added still more to his reputation. Some old 
man during that canvass is reported to have said that in his 
early days he had heard Patrick Henry, and he thought that in 
some things, particularly in the voice, Gentry was superior to 
him. His election was triumphant. This was in 1835. He was 
also returned to the next Legislature with increased popularity. 

During his membership of the State Legislature the question 
of chartering what was known for a long time as the Bank of 
Tennessee came up. He opposed this with all his might, and 
was brought in collision in the debate with the Hon. Alfred 
O- P. Nicholson, Hon. A. L. Martin, and other older and dis- 
tinguished veteran statesmen of the time in Tennessee. His ob- 
jections to the bank were that the powers conferred by the bill 
upon the Governor were such as in corrupt hands might be used 



34° THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

very injuriously to the interests of the people. Mr. Gentry was 
himself of the people, and maintained their rights in his entrance 
into public life as well as throughout his entire public career. 
His prototype in history is Tiberius Gracchus, Rome's noblest 
Tribune. It was during the discussion of this bank question 
that he made a name and fame as an orator that rapidly spread 
all over the state, and even reached adjoining states, establish- 
ing his reputation as a very remarkable man of his years. 

It was now that his powers were so enlarged as not to be con- 
fined to the " pent-up Utica " of Williamson Co., and a general 
demand was made throughout the district for him to become 
their representative in Congress. The canvass was carried on 
as usual in Tennessee. The old system was for the opposing 
candidates to meet and discuss, with a barbecue ; but in his case 
no barbecue was necessary to draw immense crowds. He swept 
everything before him. His friends were delighted, and many 
of the political party opposing him could not but do obeisance 
to his eloquence and join with the multitude in his triumphant 
election. He was elected as a Whig. 

An explanation of this term of party nomenclature at that 
time and for several years after in American politics may not 
be improper in this connection. It was first applied to those 
who opposed with great earnestness what they held to be the 
dangerous doctrines of the centralizing principles embodied in 
General Jackson's proclamation against nullification in South 
Carolina in 1832, and other kindred acts and measures of Gen- 
eral Jackson's second administration, which were deemed abuses 
of executive power and dangerous to constitutional liberty if 
not arrested, particularly his act of the removal of the public 
deposits from the Bank of the United States. Mr. Webster in 
the Senate defended the proclamation with great ability, but on 
the other acts and measures of General Jackson referred to he 
united with Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun in opposing what they 
charged to be dangerous encroachments of power by the Ex- 
ecutive Department of the government. This was the basis and 
the nucleus of a combined opposition to the administration 
throughout the country. It was the first time that the great 
trio, Clay, Calhoun and Webster, had ever acted in political 
concert and harmony, and it was at this time that the old Revo- 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 34I 

lutionary name of Whig was revived and applied to this combi- 
nation. It is said the name was first given by Mr. Calhoun, but 
soon was adopted by the elements of opposition throughout the 
Union. 

Mr. Gentry was brought up in the school of Jeffersonian De- 
mocracy, but in that branch which was then known by the name 
of the State Rights or Strict Construction Party, and subse- 
quently by the almost universal denomination of " Whig," as 
stated. He made his first appearance, therefore, in the halls of 
Federal legislation on the assembling of the Twenty-Sixth Con- 
gress, in December, 1839, as a Whig party associate. In this 
Congress there were several of Tennessee's ablest public men, 
as Cave Johnson, John Bell, Aaron V. Brown, and others. He, 
at a little over 30 years of age, at one bound, took position in 
the foremost ranks in debate, not only in his own delegation, 
but in that House of Representatives wherein were Sargent S. 
Prentiss, Henry A. Wise, John Quincy Adams, Robert C. Win- 
throp, Edward Stanley, Richard H. Menifee, Robert Barnwell 
Rhet, R. M. T. Hunter, George C. Dromgoole, Dixon H. Lewis, 
George S. Houston, Walter T. Colquitt, Mark A. Cooper, Ed- 
ward J. Black, William C. Dawson, Eugenius A. Nisbet, Thomas 
Corwin, Garrett Davis, John M. Botts, Daniel B. Barnard, Linn 
Boyd, Reuben Chapman, Nathan Clifford, and Caleb Cushing. 

His first speech, which directed universal attention to him 
throughout the House and country, was in favor of the recep- 
tion of abolition petitions. It was the more notable from the 
fact of his differing so widely from most of the Southern Rep- 
resentatives and being himself a large slave-holder. Always 
bold and fearless, discharging his duty according to the convic- 
tions of his own judgment, he announced to the surprise of 
many that these petitions should be received and reported upon. 
No one was firmer in the position than Mr. Gentry that the gov- 
ernment of the United States had no power to interfere with 
the institution of slavery in the States. But at the same time he 
thought that any petition, though asking what could not be con- 
stitutionally granted, should be received and considered. Their 
rejection would give the agitators an undue advantage. 

In this speech he said : " The Representatives of the South 
should look at the question practically, without passion or re- 



34 2 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

sentment. They ought to meet and discuss it. They ought to 
receive the petitions, refer them to a committee to be reported 
on, and such report would show why it was that the prayers of 
the petitioners could not be granted." 

His next speech, one of the ablest of that Congress, became a 
most effective campaign document in the exciting canvass for 
President in 1840. It was on the bill to secure the freedom of 
elections and to resist executive patronage. Thousands, per- 
haps hundreds of thousands, of copies of this speech were sent 
broadcast throughout the land. 

It has been said that Mr. Gentry's education was limited. 
This is true as to schooling in the ordinary sense of the word; 
but in his idle hours on the farm at home, between the ages of 
14 and 21, he had not only given much of his time to the study 
of the English poets, but he seems to have devoted his closest 
attention to the study of the constitutional history of England 
and of his own country. His models in political principles were 
Mcintosh and the great unknown stirrer of the British heart 
under the nom de plume of Junius. 

There were very few men in the House who could compare 
with Mr. Gentry in political knowledge and in the readiness with 
which he brought this knowledge to bear upon any point in a 
running debate ; but what gave him such influence in his ad- 
dresses, either on the hustings or in the legislative hall, was his 
wonderful elocution. His physique was manly, his personal 
appearance prepossessing, his form symmetrical, his action most 
graceful, his complexion ruddy, his high brow grave and com- 
manding, his voice full-volumed and rounded with a silver tone 
which penetrated all parts of that old hall in which it was so 
difficult for even Prentiss or Wise or Tom Marshall to be 
heard. On the occasion of the speech to which reference is now 
made, he rose higher than even his friends had looked for. In 
it he replied with much power to a disparaging remark of a 
member against that class of politicians characterized as " gen- 
tlemen of leisure." Said he : "I know none who enjoy so much 
leisure as the planters of the South, who have been generally 
admitted to be preeminent in those noble qualities and manly 
virtues which give dignity to human nature." 

Space will not allow the reproduction of any of those portions 






HISTORICAL SKETCHES 343 

of the speech which were so telling on the political issues of 
the day. It may be seen by the students of history and the ad- 
mirers of eloquence in the Appendix to the Congressional Globe 
for the first session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, on page 707. 
It was this speech that made the author of it known by reputa- 
tion to the writer of this sketch long before he had the pleasure 
of his personal acquaintance. 

During his first session an incident occurred in Mr. Gentry's 
Congressional career which was somewhat amusing in its na- 
ture, and may be given here as a sort of ' footlight " to his 
character. There was a call of the House. These calls in those 
days were about the same as now ; then, as now, caused new 
members unexpected embarrassment. On an occasion of this 
sort, when brought to the bar of the House by the sergeant- 
at-arms, Mr. Gentry said, by way of excuse, that he had left 
the House at twelve o'clock at night, perceiving that there was 
a very strong disposition in one party to debate the question in 
Committee of the Whole, and a strong disposition in the other 
party to stick out the debate ; he had no wish to participate in 
the debate, nor did he desire to listen to the speeches that should 
be made. Having been, for the most part of his life, a man of 
regular habits, he went home and went to bed. Most unfortu- 
nately for him, however, this House, by its messenger, intruded 
itself into his bedroom that morning and aroused him out of his 
sweet sleep, in consequence of which he looked upon himself as 
the injured party, and therefore an apology was due to him 
instead of from him. Inasmuch, however, as it would be incon- 
venient for every gentleman to call on him and apologize, he 
would take it for granted that it was done, and he would agree 
with the House that they should naturally excuse each other. 
Upon payment of fees he was discharged, with the usual roar 
of laughter in the House on such occasions. 

His popularity at the expiration of his Congressional term 
was so thoroughly established that opposition was almost use- 
less. In the next contest for Congress in his district he was 
again triumphantly returned to what is known in history as the 
Whig Congress, from 1841 to 1843. In this body he maintained 
his reputation as an orator and debater, but seemed to be de- 
pressed from the divisions of the Whig party. About this time 



344 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

also befell him one of the heaviest domestic blows which can 
afflict a true, manly heart. Some time before his first election 
to Congress, Feb. 22, 1837, Mr. Gentry had formed a most 
happy union in marriage with Miss Emily Saunders, a grand- 
daughter of the famous Colonel John Donelson, who lived near 
the Hermitage. She was a cousin of the more generally distin- 
guished Andrew J. Donelson, General Jackson's adopted son, 
who was a candidate for the Vice-Presidency on the Fillmore 
ticket in 1856, and who held numerous offices of honor and 
trust in his day. Miss Saunders was a lady of great beauty and 
high accomplishments. To her Mr. Gentry was most devoted. 
Their union was one which added greatly to their mutual hap- 
piness. The death of this most amiable woman and devoted 
wife at about this time brought a blight upon the prospects, 
hopes and aspirations of the young Tennessee statesman, and 
almost ended his own life. This blow fell so heavily upon him 
that he withdrew from the world for a while. Hence he would 
not permit his name to be presented to the people for election 
to the Twenty-Eighth Congress. He spent his time in seclusion 
and melancholy with his two children, both daughters, the dar- 
ling pledges of the love of the departed mother. 

But on the revival of his spirits two years later, and it being 
known that he would consent to represent the district again, the 
canvass was opened and he was returned with about the usual 
majority to the Twenty-Ninth Congress. It was here, on his 
reappearance in Congress in December, 1845, tne writer first 
met him and made his personal acquaintance. They soon be- 
came intimate; in politics they agreed on almost every question. 
They were soon after in the same mess at Mrs. Carter's board- 
ing house in Dowson's (or Dawson — Ed.) old row, on Capitol 
Hill. In those days few members of Congress took permanent 
board at any of the hotels, and fewer still kept house. 

They organized into messes, and their names were arranged 
in the Congressional Directories according to their messes. 

This House in which he appeared also recognized in him a 
born leader. With him now came for the first time his distin- 
guished colleague, Edward H. Ewing, from the Nashville dis- 
trict. But the three most prominent new members who entered 
the Twenty-Ninth Congress were Robert Toombs, of Georgia, 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 345 

William L. Yancey, of Alabama, and Jefferson Davis, of Mis- 
sissippi. In the preceding Congress (the Twenty-Eighth, which 
assembled in 1843), in which the writer entered, there appeared 
a very large number of new members who have since figured 
conspicuously in the country's history. 

A little digression here in reference to the personnel of these 
members and some incidents of that House may be allowed as 
reminiscences. Amongst those of that " shoal " of new mem- 
bers who then entered and have since become so conspicuous 
may be mentioned Stephen A. Douglas, John A. McClernand, 
John J. Hardin, Orlando B. Ficklin, John Wentworth, and Jo- 
seph P. Hodge, all of Illinois. To the same Congress came for 
the first time Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee ; John P. Hale, of 
New Hampshire; Thomas L. Clingman, of North Carolina; 
Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine ; Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsyl- 
vania; Howell Cobb, of Georgia; Solomon Foot, Jacob Colla- 
mer, George P. Marsh, and Paul Dillingham, Jr., of Vermont; 
Preston King, Hamilton Fish, and Washington Hunt, of New 
York; Richard Broadhead, David Wilmot, James Pollock, and 
James Thomas, of Pennsylvania; James A. Sedden, of Virginia; 
David S. Reid, of North Carolina; Armstead Burt, of South 
Carolina ; Hugh A. Haralson, Absalom H. Chappel, John H. 
Lumpkin, and William H. Styles, of Georgia ; George W. Jones, 
of Tennessee ; Robert McClellan, of Michigan ; Robert C. 
Schenck, of Ohio; John Slidell, of Louisiana; and Caleb B. 
Smith, of Indiana. 

These newcomers all made their mark during the Twenty- 
Eighth Congress. It may be doubted if any Congress since the 
first has presented so many new members who subsequently ob- 
tained such distinction ; indeed it was said before the expiration 
of that Congress that there were at least twenty candidates for the 
Presidency in the number. It was thought that the Illinois dele- 
gation had at least three, perhaps more, aspirants for that high 
office. Upon all occasions when any new subject of debate was 
started nearly every member of the Illinois delegation would 
speak, and they all spoke well. This gave rise to a rather amus- 
ing incident in the House as to the proper pronunciation of the 
name of that State. Mr. John Campbell, of South Carolina, a 
most accomplished and scholarly gentleman, who had been for 



34^ THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

many years a representative from that State, pronounced the 
name " Ille-noi." Others insisted that the right pronunciation 
was " Illi-nois." Mr. Campbell appealed to the venerable gen- 
tleman from Massachusetts, Mr. John Quincy Adams, who was 
considered the highest authority in the House upon all such 
questions. Much interest was manifested as to what would be 
the decision of the authority appealed to, and all eyes were di- 
rected to Mr. Adams, when, with a smirking smile upon his face, 
he rose and spoke in substance as follows: "Mr. Speaker: 
Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites [quoting the reply 
of Palsemon to Menalcas and Demaetas, from Virgil's " Third 
Eclogue " : " It is not for me to decide so great contests be- 
tween you." If I were to judge of the proper pronunciation 
of the State from the demonstrations of its delegations in the 
present Congress, I should say it ought to be 'All-noise,' " em- 
phasizing with great effect the last syllable. A roar of laughter 
was the result. 

The leading members of that state who were thus figuring in 
those debates and who were thought to have aspirations for the 
Presidency even at that early date, were Mr. Douglas, who sub- 
sequently became so famous, John J. Hardin, who gallantly fell 
at the head of his regimental column at the battle of Buena 
Vista, one of the most agreeable and brightest men of his day, 
and Mr. John A. McClernand, who then and subsequently acted 
so important a part in the legislation of the country and figured 
so conspicuously in command of a corps during the late war. 
He still lives, enjoying an old age ripe with honors. His last 
high position was that of President of the Democratic Conven- 
tion at St. Louis, in 1876, which put in nomination for the Pres- 
idency Samuel J. Tilden. 

It was during this, the Twenty-Eighth Congress, that the reso- 
lutions providing for the admission of Texas as a State into the 
Union were passed, and it was soon after the assembling of the 
Twenty-Ninth Congress that Texas was admitted to the Union 
upon her having adopted a constitution in pursuance of the pro- 
vision of the joint resolution previously passed. 

Mr. Gentry's first speech upon his reappearance in the House 
was upon a most memorable occasion. He took little part at 
the first session in debate. The Mexican War had been inau- 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 347 

gurated with the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma in 
the month of May, 1846. There was a strong opposition to the 
policy which led to the outbreak of hostilities, but the minority 
1 — the Whig party — in the House was very timid and shy in 
making public expression of this feeling of opposition. Most 
of them had voted for the bill, declaring that the war existed, 
though they asserted their belief that the preamble of the bill 
was utterly false. Only one member of the House who refused 
to vote for the declaration of war at an early day thereafter de- 
nounced as unconstitutional the acts of the President in the 
removal of troops from Corpus Christi to Matamoras, which 
provoked hostilities between the two countries. The other Whig 
members were generally silent until the assembling of the second 
session of Congress in December. In the message of the Presi- 
dent, Mr. Polk, there was a very pointed expression about " giv- 
ing aid and comfort to the enemy." 

It was at this time that Mr. Gentry made his first speech in 
the Twenty-Ninth Congress. It was one of the most eloquent 
and finest specimens of high-toned invective in the annals of the 
country. It can be seen in the Congressional Globe Appendix 
of the second session of the Twenty-Ninth Congress, on page 
56. Mr. Gentry seldom indulged in acrimonious remarks ; but 
the President, on the occasion referred to, was so pointed in his 
indirect charge of treason against those who censured his policy 
in bringing on the war by saying they were giving aid and com- 
fort to the enemy, that he had all the manliness in his nature 
roused, and took the floor to hurl back the unjust aspersion that 
had thus been cast upon him and his party associates, and to 
vindicate the course of himself and the minority before an in- 
telligent world. 

His exordium was brief and spirited. He maintained that it 
was " the highest duty of the representative of a free people to 
maintain the truth and the right on all occasions." 

" The imputation," he said, " which the President has thought 
proper to make in his official communication to Congress was 
echoed and re-echoed on this floor by his liegemen yesterday in 
a way which raises a strong presumption that there is a concerted 
purpose to frighten us with a storm of denunciation from the 
independent discharge of our duty as representatives of the peo- 



34-8 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

pie. We are called upon to assert our rights or basely succumb 
to executive intimidations. ... I choose, therefore, to 
speak now, although unprepared for the debate, merely to ex- 
hibit my defiance of these denunciations and express the con- 
tempt in which I hold them." 

He said he wished to " maintain those rights which were dear 
to freemen and formidable to tyrants and usurpers only." After 
charging that " the war was unconstitutionally begun by the 
President for ambitious and unholy purposes of conquest," he 
said in regard to the methods of the President : " He has au- 
daciously assumed thus to act without the sanction or authority 
of Congress. Shall we, the descendants of the Whig patriots 
of the American Revolution, tamely and silently yield up the 
constitution of our country, the guarantee of our liberty, to be 
violated and trampled upon in this way ? " Farther on he says : 
" We would dishonor the glorious name which constitutes our 
designation as a political party if we were thus to act. Our 
veneration for our fathers, our duty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, our devotion to liberty, every glorious recollection of the 
past, every high hope of the future, forbids a course of conduct 
so unpatriotic and so inglorious." The conclusion of this speech, 
the reproduction of which space will not permit, was no less 
eloquent than prophetic. His appeal to the Virginia and South 
Carolina delegations, who were sustaining the policy of Mr. 
Polk, to come to the rescue of the constitution was one of the 
most earnest ever delivered in the House. He begged them to 
" remember that the glory of their ancient commonwealths was 
not won by subserviency to power, but by brave and patriotic 
resistance to usurpation." It is doubted if Prentiss or Choate 
or any other man in the House ever made a more thrilling and 
rousing display of soul-stirring eloquence. Chatham was not 
more majestic in the British Parliament in his denunciation of 
the abuses of power by a Tory administration in causing the 
Revolutionary War. 

Gentry's speech awed the administration side and emboldened 
the timid Whig ranks. After this a resolution was introduced 
by that Whig member who at an early day had denounced as 
unconstitutional the act of the President in bringing on the war, 
declaring that while patriotism required that the armies should 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 349 

be fully sustained, the war should be waged only for obtaining 
an honorable peace, but not with any view or object of conquest. 
This resolution was voted for by some of the prominent mem- 
bers of the other side, and soon became the Whig war platform 
for the presidential election, which resulted in the success of 
their candidate, General Taylor, in 1848. 

Mr. Gentry was a Whig not only of the new but of the old 
school. He was a man of principle and not of policy. He was 
in many respects a very extraordinary man. He was unsel- 
fish, unambitious, and entirely disinterested personally in all his 
public acts. In private life, he was kind, generous, charitable, 
and benevolent in a high degree. No man had in him more 
of the milk of human kindness. Though uncultured in the 
ancient languages yet few men had a greater command of Eng- 
lish or better understood the extraordinary flexibility of his 
native tongue in the selection and use of those words which 
expressed the nicest shade of thought than he. 

Dr. Johnson, in his Latin epitaph on Goldsmith, said : " Nullum 
quod teligit non ornavit." This may be applied to Mr. Gentry 
in English, for there was no subject he touched that he did not 
adorn and embellish. His speeches were always extempore; he 
was never at a loss for a word, seeming the very best word 
that could have been chosen after time and deliberation. His 
eulogy upon Clay, delivered offhand, without premeditation, was 
most apt, powerful, and pathetic. Socially he was urbane and 
genial, possessed of high conversational powers, was fond of 
humor and anecdote, and everything said by him on convivial 
occasions was not only entertaining, but unaccompanied by any- 
thing impure or unchaste. In his domestic relations he was al- 
ways happy. 

On his return to Congress, where the writer of this sketch 
first met him, as stated, he brought with him his second wife, 
Miss Caledonia Brown, a lady of great accomplishment and re- 
finement. She was one of the stars of the mess at Mrs. Carter's, 
wherein shone conspicuously the second Mrs. John J. Crit- 
tenden from Kentucky ; Mrs. Buffmgton, from Pennsylvania ; 
Mrs. Underhill, from New York ; and Mrs. Robert Toombs, from 
Georgia. 

He was a party man only in so far as party organization se- 



35° THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

cured wise measures and good government. Hence when the 
party to which he then belonged and which he was endeavoring 
to induce to maintain the constitution deviated, as he thought, 
from its ancient landmarks of principle, he hesitated not to 
abandon its organization. He was devoted to the Union under 
the constitution. This principle was the polar star of his action. 
Upon the subject of slavery — or the " peculiar institution " of 
the south, as it was called — he agreed very fully with the writer 
of this in holding that " the emancipation of the blacks, with 
its consequences, should be considered with more interest as a 
social question, one relating to the proper status of the differ- 
ent elements of society and their relations to each other look- 
ing to the best interests of all," than in any other light. The 
pecuniary aspect of it, the considerations of labor and capital 
in a politico-economic view, sunk into insignificance in compar- 
ison with this. Other and higher considerations outweighed the 
property view of the subject, though that involved two thousand 
million dollars. Above all, he held that the institution as it 
existed, with its needful changes and ameliorations, should be 
left where it was left by the constitution — that is, under the 
control of the authorities of the several States. 

Therefore in 1849 an d 1850, when the Whig party in caucus, 
on the nomination of Mr. Winthrop as speaker, refused to adopt 
a resolution disavowing a purpose to pass that which he deemed 
unconstitutional measures interfering with this institution in 
the District of Columbia and the Territories, he abandoned the 
organization. 

Six Southern Whigs who thoroughly agreed with him put his 
name in nomination for the Speakership in opposition to Mr. 
Winthrop, whom they and he had made Speaker in the previous 
Congress. These six Southern Whigs clung to Mr. Gentry to 
the last, which resulted in the defeat of Mr. Winthrop, the Whig 
caucus nominee, in 1849. This brought down the denunciations 
of the party press against him and those associates who were in 
sympathy with him, but with that bold independence that ever 
characterized him, he cared as little for this as they did. 

He took a prominent part with Clay, Douglas, Cass, Toombs, 
Cobb, Webster, Foote, McClernand, and Fillmore, besides many 
others composed of both of the two previous organizations, in 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 35 1 

the adjustment measures of 1850; and in 1852 when General 
Scott refused to indorse these measures as adopted by an over- 
whelming majority of the Whig convention in Baltimore in that 
year, he, with many other Southern Whigs, refused to grve him 
their support. Scott was defeated, and Pierce, the Democratic 
candidate, who gave those measures his cordial approval, was 
triumphantly elected. Thereupon the Whig party became extinct. 

It was in 1861, after the secession of several States, when the 
peace Congress assembled in Washington, in which Mr. Chase, 
well known to be the intended Secretary of the Treasury of 
Mr. Lincoln, then elect, openly declared that the Northern States 
never would fulfill their obligations under the constitution of 
the United States in the matter of the return of fugitives from 
service, that Mr. Gentry's long cherished hope of the Union 
seemed to die within him and pass away as an illusive dream. 
There were then thirteen States, which had avowedly and openly 
declared that that clause of the constitution of the United States 
without which Judge Story said the constitution never could 
have been made, and which Judge Baldwin, of the Supreme 
Court, on a circuit bench, said was " the corner stone of the 
United States government," should be unconditionally repudiated. 
It was then that Mr. Gentry, in retirement on his plantation in 
Tennessee, determined, like many other old Southern Whigs, 
that there was but one alternative for patriots, and that was to 
quit the Union as the only hope of saving the constitution. With 
these feelings he cast his fortune with his state after the over- 
whelming popular vote, though irregularly taken, was given in 
favor of secession. He was elected to the Confederate Congress 
in 1862, and again in 1863. It was there that the writer of this 
sketch met his long and attached friend for the last time. 

He was then failing in health and spirits. With the waning 
fortunes of the Confederacy, pursuing a policy internally and 
externally, which his judgment did not approve, and the loss 
of his second wife, despondency came upon him. He had es- 
poused secession only as a state rights remedy to rescue and pre- 
serve the constitution. He thought this extreme remedy ought 
to be resorted to only as a redress of grievances ; and that when 
the Northern States, faithless to their obligations under the 
constitution should rectify their wrongs all the states should 



35 2 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

again be reunited upon the old or the improved Confederate 
constitution. But he became satisfied that this would never be 
obtained under the policy of the administration at Richmond. 
After the collapse and the result of the war was known, the last 
hope of good government left him ; and on the 2nd of November, 
1867, bereft of fortune, with blasted hopes and gloomy fore- 
bodings for the future of his country in the dark days of recon- 
struction, he departed this life on the plantation of one of his 
daughters. He left four children surviving, two daughters by 
the first marriage and two sons by the last. 

This brief tribute is given to the memory of one of the truest 
and noblest gentlemen the writer ever met with in his eventful 
life. No profounder philanthropist, no one more devoted to 
constitutional liberty ever lived in this or any other country 
than Meredith Poindexter Gentry. 

Washington, D. C, May 17, 188 1. 



Note: Hon. M. P. Gentry, of Tennessee, was suggested as a 
member of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet in 1861. See Abraham Lincoln, by 
Nicolay and Hay, Vol. I, page 265. 

Col. M. P. Gentry was a member of the Confederate Congress, and 
when the Federal troops overran middle Tennessee in 1864, he was cap- 
tured and held a prisoner. His health was bad and he wrote a letter to 
President Lincoln, which was delivered by General Grant, requesting 
that he might be sent South. In reply Mr. Lincoln wrote him a letter 
granting his request. See Abraham Lincoln, Nicolay and Hay, Vol. 2, 
pages 495-6. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 353 

ROSTER OF COL GENTRY'S REGIMENT. 

The following is the roster of field, staff and company officers, 
in Col. Gentry's regiment, of Missouri Volunteers in the " Sem- 
inole War," in 1837. 

FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. 

Richard Gentry, Colonel, Columbia, Mo. 

John Price, Lieutenant Colonel, Fayette, Mo. 

Horatio N. Hughes, Major, Fayette, Mo. 

Hiram G. Parks, Adjutant, Richmond, Mo. 

Wm McDaniel, Quartermaster, Palmyra, Mo. 

Thomas Miller, Paymaster, Columbia, Mo. 

Thomas Bryant, Quartermaster Sergeant, Columbia, Mo. 

Robert Gunnett, Commissary Sergeant, Palmyra, Mo. 

A. D. Bradley, Commissary, Columbia, Mo. 

Richard H. Gentry, Sergeant Major, Columbia, Mo. 

Temple Crews, Sergeant Major, Fayette, Mo. 

John A. Hannah, Sergeant, Fulton, Mo. 

Elam Herns, Principal Musician, Fayette, Mo. 

Robert Briggs, Principal Musician, Fayette, Mo. 

COMPANY OFFICERS. 

Company D. Congreve Jackson, Captain. 
Prior Jackson, 1st Lieutenant. 
H. Jackson, Sergeant. 
Preston F. Jackson, Ensign. 
J. C. Brady, Sergeant. 
W. C. Haley, 1st Sergeant; Left service, Nov. 15, 

1837. 
J. R. Bagwell, Sergeant. 
Wm. Drinkard, Corporal. 
John L. Hawkins, Corporal. 

Wm. Woods, Corporal; Disc. Jan. 17, 1837 and paid. 
Thomas W. Taylor, Corporal. 
Company E. Edward Florey, Captain. 

Jonathan Ballinger, First Lieutenant. Transferred 
to Co. " F." 



354 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Coleby Lane, 1st Sergeant; Disc., Nov. 30, 1837. 
James Moss, Sergeant; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 
Johnson Hunt, Sergeant; Disc., Dec. 1, 1837. 
Jacob Lasher, Ensign. 

A. G. Carter, Sergeant; Disc, Dec 1, 1837. 
Jacob W. Temple, Corporal; Disc, Dec. 1, 1837. 
Ethelrid H. Parks, Corporal ; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 
William Davis, Corporal ; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 
Nehemiah Payne, Corporal; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 

Company F. Wm. C. Pollard, Captain. 

Hugh Vanlandingham, 1st Lieutenant; Disc, March 

18, 1838. 
John W. Martin, 1st Sergeant; Disc, March 13, 1838. 
James M. Ramsey, Ensign; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 
Jeremiah Garner, Sergeant; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 
Benj. Taylor, Sergeant; Disc, Mch. 18, 1838. 
Caswell Rains, Sergeant. 

James Queaner, Corporal ; Disc, March 18, 1838. 
George Chapman, Corporal; Disc, March 18, 1838. 
Anthony Vanderpool, Must, for Bugler; Disc, Nov. 

30, 1837. Died on passage. Whether horse or 

man died is not clearly stated. 
John Vanderpool, Corporal ; Disc, Nov. 30, 1837. 

Died on passage. Whether horse or man died 

is not clearly stated. 

Company G. James Childs, Captain. 

John Reed, Lieutenant; Disc, March 17, 1838. 

John Walker, 1st Sergeant; Disc. Mch. 17, 1838. 

Thos. L. Johnson, Sergeant. 

James W. Sanders, Sergeant. 

Joseph Millikin, Sergeant; Disc, Dec. 28, 1837. 

Henry Childs, Ensign. 

Otho Hale, Corporal. 

John Millikin, Corporal; Disc, Dec. 28, 1837. 

Joseph Reynolds, Corporal ; appd. Q. M. Sergeant, 

Jan. 12, 1838. 
Samuel. C. Weir, Bugler. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 355 

Company H. John Ellis, Captain. 

Clifton R. Harris, ist Lieutenant; Dead. 
John M. Harris, Sergeant. 

Edward Simpson, Sergeant % Disc, Jefferson Bar- 
racks, Oct. 25, 1837. 
Richard D. Snell, Sergeant. 
Samuel Davis, Sergeant. 
James Jones, Corporal. 
Lewis Jones, Corporal. 
Archibald Johnson, Corporal. 
Thomas Nicholds, Corporal. 

Company I. Wm. Henry Russell, Captain. 

Wm. Thompson, ist Lieutenant; must, for Disc, 

Dec. 1, 1837. 
John M. Ward, ist Sergeant. 
Joseph D. Thompson, Sergeant ; must, for discharge, 

Dec. 1, 1837. 
James H. Shelby, Sergeant; must, for Disc, Dec. I, 

i8 3 7- 
Charles Rogers, Ensign ; Disc. Mch. 17, 1838. 

Peter White, Sergeant; must, for Disc, Dec. 1, 1837. 

Thomas Reynolds, Corporal ; must, for Disc. 

Hereford Elkanah, Corporal ; must, for Disc, Dec. 

1, 1837- 
Lewis T. Selby, Corporal ; must, for Disc, Dec 1, 

1837. 
James H. Smith, Corporal. 

James Price, Musician; Disc, Dec. 1, 1837. 

Company K. Thomas D. Grant, Captain. 

Arthanasias Barnet, ist Lieutenant. 
L. D. Tipton, Ensign. 
Joseph Nelson, Sergeant. 
J. F. Turley, Sergeant. 
Tarlton Turner, Sergeant. 
Sanford Conley, Sergeant. 
Elijah Burnett, Corporal. 
Ewing C. Roland, Corporal. 



35^ THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

James Turner, Corporal. 
Arnet White, Corporal. 

Company L. John H. Curd, Captain. 
John Blakey, 1st Lieutenant. 
Wm. Winlock, Ensign. 
Oscar Benning, 1st Sergeant. 
Robert Campbell, Sergeant. 
Angrue Lewis, Corporal. 
Thomas Morris, Corporal. 
Robert Gunnett, Corporal. 

Company M. Cornelius Gillian, Captain. 
John Stone, Sergeant. 
Benj. Quinn, Corporal. 
John Robnett, Corporal. 
Geo. W. Whitson, Bugler. 

Company N. John S. Scounce, Captain. 

Israel R. Hendley, 1st Lieutenant. 

Patrick Darcy, 2nd Lieutenant. 

Perry Jacobs, Sergeant; killed in battle, Dec. 25, 1837. 

Powhatten Smith, Sergeant. 

Jesse Williams, Sergeant. 

David Riffe, Sergeant. 

Wm. S. Allen Corporal. 

Geo. Downey, Corporal. 

Elihu Stanley, Corporal. 

Col. Gentry left New Orleans, November 2, 1837, with these 
ten companies of volunteers, in four sailing vessels, for Tampa, 
Florida. They met with severe storms and rough seas and while 
Col. Gentry with part of his troops arrived in good time and con- 
dition, a part of the vessels were delayed about three weeks, and 
were compelled to throw overboard most of their horses to save 
their vessels. Companies E, F, G and I suffered the greatest loss 
and when they arrived at Tampa most of them were discharged 
for lack of mounts, Nov. 30, and Dec. 1, 1837, by order of 
Colonel Taylor. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 357 

GENTRY SOLDIERS OF THE PRINCIPAL WARS 

A partial list of the Gentrys who took part in the various wars 
of our country, and reference to the services each performed: 

Revolutionary War 

Richard Gentry Family No. 15 

David Gentry Family No. 17 

Nicholas Gentry Family No. 18 

John Gentry Family No. 19 

Martin Gentry Family No. 20 

James Gentry Family No. 186 

George Gentry Family No. 187 

Meshack Gentry Family No. 211 

Richard Gentry Family No. 241 

Gaddis Gentry Family No. 244 

Joseph Gentry Family No. 204 

William Gentry Family No. 255 

William Gentry Family No. 259 

William Spisa Family No. 210 

Major Benjamin Sharp Page 179 

Frank Wyatt Page 175 

John Wyatt Page 176 

Nicholas Hawkins Page 109 

The War Department collection of the Revolutionary War 
records is far from complete. There are still some records of 
services of Revolutionary soldiers among the various State rec- 
ords, which may be found by the aid of the Adjutant General of 
the State where the soldier lived and enlisted, and which are 
not in the War Department collection. 

The pension laws were not passed for forty to fifty years after 
the close of the Revolution, and many soldiers died without 
making application for pension ; afterwards proof could not be 
made of the soldiers' services, in many cases. 

War of 1812 

David Martin Family No. 4 — 5 

James Gentry Family No. 29 

John Gentry Family No. 30 






358 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 



» 



Elijah Gentry Battle of the "Thames 

William Gentry Family No. 34 — 1 

Nicholas Gentry Family No. 35 — 2 

Harman Gentry Family No. 39 

David Gentry Family No. 56 

Richard Gentry Family No. 57 

James Gentry Family No. 59 

Samuel Gentry Family No. 82 

Charles Gentry Family No. 91 

Pleasant F. Gentry Family No. 212 

Edmund Gentry Family No. 244 

Benjamin Gentry Page 297 

William Gentry Page 297 

Captain John Wyatt Page 173 

Florida War 

James Gentry Family No. 41 

Richard Gentry Family No. 57 

Richard Harrison Gentry Family No. 114 

George W. Gentry Family No. 222 

Texas' War with Mexico 

Frederick B. Gentry Family No. 223 

George W. Gentry Family No. 222 

Mexican War 

Thomas Gentry Family No. 24 — 2 

James Gentry Family No. 41 

William Gentry Family No. 100 

John F. Gentry Family No. 41 — 2 

Wm. A. Gentry Page 296 

Civil War of 1861 

Federal Soldiers 

Jesse M. Gentry Family No. 24 — 4-d 

Col. Wm. T. Gentry Family No. 69 — 5-a 

James H. Gentry Family No. 69 — 5-b 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 359 

Albert Gentry Family No. 70 — 3 

Pleasant K. Gentry Family No. 75 — 5 

Martin M. Gentry Family No. 75 — 6 

Robert A. Gentry Family No. 106 

Sylvester L. Gentry Family No. 107 

Wm. M. Gentry Family No. 160 

Reuben Joel Gentry Family No. 161 

Major Wm. Gentry Family No. in 

Henry Clay Gentry Family No. 124 

John Campbell Family No. 127 

James Blythe Gentry Family No. 128 

David W. Gentry Family No. 141 

Dr. John W. Trader Page 174 

Wm. Richard Gentry Family No. 60 — 5 

Joseph M. Gentry Family No. 126 

Mark Gentry Family No. JJ — 8 

Confederate Soldiers 

William Gentry Family No. 33 — 1 

David Gentry Family No. 33 — 2 

Wm. James Gentry Family No. 68 

Ransom Gentry Family No. 78 

John B. Gentry Family No. 85 

Richard K. Gentry Family No. 85 — 1 

John B. Gentry Family No. 85 — 2 

Napoleon Gentry Family No. 150 

Flavius V. Gentry Family No. 85 — 4 

Martin W. Gentry Family No. 91 — 1 

James H. Gentry Family No. 91 — 6 

Nicholas Hawkins Gentry Family No. 117 

Richard Gentry Bryan Family No. 57 — i-a 

Joseph H. Gentry Family No. 131 

Wm. H. Gentry Family No. 132 

John Franklin Gentry Family No. 134 

Gilbert Martin Gentry Family No. 142 

Samuel C. Gentry Family No. 152 

Richard Gentry Family No. 167 

Wm. Haywood Gentry Family No. 198 — 1 

John Wesley Gentry Family No. 198 — 2 



360 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

Sidney B. Gentry Family No. 198 — 5 

Ira Gentry Family No. 198 — 4 

Raleigh Gentry Family No. 198 — 6 

Capt. Wm. H. Gentry Family No. 233 — 3 

Andrew Gentry Family No. 234 — 1 

Joseph Gentry Family No. 234 — 4 

Levi Gentry Family No. 234 — 6 

Capt. George W. Gentry Family No. 237 

Dr. Levi Clinton Gentry Family No. 238 

David Reed Gentry Family No. 239 

Dr. Watson M. Gentry Family No. 254 

Samuel Gentry Family No. 265 

James A. Gentry, Co. H, 1st Va. and 6th Va. . 

Charles W. Gentry, Co. G, 1st Va 

Colonel Allen Gentry Family No. 235 

Silas C. Gentry, Va. Battery 

Lieut. J. F. Gentry, Forest's Cavalry 

W. F. Gentry, J. R. Gentry, Prisoners of War. 
Thomas Gentry, 20th Reg. Va. Vol., Louisa Co. 
Thomas P. Gentry, Charles City Co., Va. . . . 



The list of soldiers of the Civil War, Federal and Confederate, is not 
more than half complete. So many have failed to mention their war 
record. This Civil War list is an after-thought and no search has been 
made of war records. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 361 

A WONDERFUL SURGICAL OPERATION 

The following incidents told the writer in 1898 in Harrods- 
burg, Kentucky, by Charles W. Gentry, a brother of Colonel 
Richard Gentry, serves to fix the dates of two of Colonel Gen- 
try's trips to Santa Fe, and gives fuller details of the wonderful 
surgical operation reported by Dr. Josiah Gregg in his " Com- 
merce of the Prairies," as having occurred on the Santa Fe trail 
at Walnut Creek, near Great Bend, Kansas in 1826. 

Andrew Broaddus, a Missouri freighter, formerly from Madi- 
son County, Kentucky, at his first sight of buffalo became ex- 
cited and in attemtping to draw his rifle, muzzle end first from 
his wagon, discharged its contents into his right arm. The 
wound was a terrible one and the weather was very hot. He 
proceeded with the caravan for several days but at Walnut 
Creek gangrene had set in and it was evident to all that if the 
arm was not cut off he would lose his life. Broaddus was a 
man of nerve and bravery, and realizing his condition and that 
there was no surgeon along, called for his old Kentucky friend, 
Col. Richard Gentry, and asked him to cut off his arm. After 
many expostulations, believing it was too late and that such a 
crude operation would only hasten his death, Col. Gentry finally 
consented. His only surgical instruments were his own razor, 
a hand saw and a coupling pin. 

The arm was bound tightly above the wound with a cord ; 
the flesh was severed with a razor to the bone, which was quickly 
sawed off, and the flesh seared with a red hot coupling-pin. The 
cord was then removed and bandages applied to the wound which 
began to heal at once. In a few weeks the arm was sound and 
well, but in healing the flesh shrunk and left several inches of 
the bone projecting. When the caravan was entering Santa Fe, 
Broaddus was riding his mule, which became frightened and 
ran off and threw Broaddus, who fell on the stump of his un- 
fortunate arm and broke off the projecting bone. Thus Col. 
Gentry, assisted by the mule, accomplished a successful surgical 
operation, the story of which Mr. Broaddus often related with 
much feeling after his return home to Kentucky. 

On the trail friend administered to friend as occasion de- 
manded ; what one had grit to do the other had nerve to bear, 



362 THE GENTRY FAMILY IN AMERICA 

and this without disinfectants, sterilization or anesthetics. Mr. 
Charles W. Gentry remembered seeing Broaddus many times 
in Madison County, Kentucky, during his boyhood. 

Andrew Broaddus was the youngest brother off Whitfield 
Broaddus, who married the widow of George Ballard, Catherine 
Hawkins Ballard, of Madison County, Kentucky, a sister of Ann 
Hawkins, the wife of Col. Richard Gentry. Judge E. J. Broad- 
dus of the Missouri Court of Appeals, at Kansas City, Missouri, 
is a son of Mr. Andrew Broaddus and confirms this story. See 
Thwaite's Early Western Travels, Vol. 19, page 209, for Dr. 
Josiah Gregg's account of this story.* 

Mr. Charles W. Gentry only remembered seeing his brother, 
Col. Richard Gentry, on one occasion ; in the Spring of 1830, 
Col. Gentry came to Madison County, Kentucky, with a drove 
of Mexican mules, which he brought from Santa Fe the fall be- 
fore. Charles W. was only four years old, but the first and last 
sight of his noted brother, Col. Gentry, the drove of mules and 
especially the small dun mule, which his elder brothers Collins 
and Robert were allowed to ride about the yard, made a great 
impression upon him. 

In 1829, the freighting caravan for Santa Fe had an escort of 
four companies of United States troops under Major Riley, as 
far west as the present town of Fort Dodge, Kansas, where 
Major Riley remained until October, when he met the returning 
caravan escorted by Mexican troops under command of Col. 
Vezcarra, with whom civilities were exchanged. 

Fort Riley, Kansas, was named for Major Riley, who was an 
adept at campaigning on the plains. He was breveted Major in 
1828 for long and efficient service; distinguished for bravery in 
the Seminole War ; served with great distinction in the Mexican 
War; and was made Major-General in 1847; and was the last 
Territorial Governor of California. See Thwaites' Early Western 
Travels, Vol. 19, pages 205 and 206. 

* There are several written accounts of this wonderful surgical opera- 
tion on Mr. Andrew Broaddus. One of them says that the celebrated 
Kit Carson cut off his arm; this no doubt added some romance to the 
story, but Kit Karson was not born until 1809 and had never been from 
home at old Franklin until he ran away and joined the carava for Santa 
Fe in 1826. It is not probable that a boy of seventeen would be selected 
for such an operation. 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



363 



GENTRYS SHOWN IN FIRST UNITED STATES CEN- 
SUS OF 1790 
The first Census of the United States was made in 1790. Only- 
twelve states had joined the Union up to March 1st of the year 
1790. The Virginia schedules for 1790 being missing, the state 
enumerations for 1782, 1783, 1784 and 1785 were substituted 
in the government census for 1790. 









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Virginia, Hanover Co., 1782 

Watson Gentry 4 white 6 black 

John Gentry 8 white 

David Gentry 8 white 18 black 

Joseph Gentry 5 white 

William Gentry 1 white 

Virginia, Halifax Co., 1782 

Michael Gentry 5 white 

Virginia, Cumberland Co. 

Simon Gentry 2 white 8 black 

Virginia, Albemarle Co., 1785 

Benajah Gentry 9 white 

David Gentry 4 white 

Martin Gentry 8 white 

Richard Gentry 2 white 

Richard Gentry, Jr 4 white 

Moses Gentry 12 white 

In the Census of 1785 no account was taken of ages, sexes or color, 
slave or free. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abell, Julia, 43 

Ralls, 43 

Susan, 43 

Susan (Dunkum), 43 
Abercrombie, Corrinne, 297 
Adams, Fred G., 43 

Julia (Abell), 43 
Adkinson, William, 128 

Winnie E. (Gentry), 128 
Alden, Elizabeth, 236 

John, 236 

Priscilla Mullins, 236 
Aldridge, Margaret (Gentry), 253 
Alexander, Lucy Fullerton, 59 
Allegree, Giles, 27 
Almitt, Lucy, 260 
Anderson, Alice (Simms), 59 

Elizabeth B., 60 

Dovey (Blythe), 59, 317 

James Blythe, 59, 317 

John, 185 

Joseph C, 59 

Joseph C, (Mrs.), 58 

Joseph Caldwell, 60 
Ankeny, John, 171 

Lucy W. (Gentry), 171 
Apple, Jane (Butler), 224 
Armstrong, Theodosia (Gentry), 
283 

Thomas, 283 

Margaret, 142 
Arnold, Eliza (Gentry), 125 

John, 125 

Samuel, 27 
Ashley, Mary, 254 
Atwood, Edward, 91 

Gertrude (Elliott), 91 
Augburn, Fannie (Gentry), 251 
Austin, Miss , 42 



Babb, Eugenia, 186 

R. F. (Rev.), 186 
Bacon, Gen. 



Bailey, Nancy, 39 

Thomas, 24, 39 
Baker, Absalom, 250 

Absalom H., 250 

Delia Pelina, 250 

Fannie, Jones, 250 

Harriett Jane, 250 

Harriett (Gentry), 250 

Margaret Malinda, 250 

Nancy Rebecca, 250 

Pauline, 262 

Richard H., 250 

Thomas, 23 

Thomas Robertson, 250 

William Barnett, 250 
Ball, John, 264 

Sarah (Gentry), 264 
Ballard, Austin, 38, 243 

Catherine (Hawkins), 109 

Edward, 243 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 243 

Eva (Noland), 54 

George, 54, 109, 243 

Hudson, 243 

James, 109, 243 

Lucy, 38 

R., 109 

William, 109 
Banta, Mary E., 120 
Barbere, Madaline, 135 
Barbiere, Eloise, 206 
Barger, G. F., 208 

Pattie F. (Gentry), 208 
Barker, Ambrose, 273 

Mary (Gentry), 273 
Barnett, Mary, 38 

Rebecca, 267 
Barnhart, Fannie A. (Gentry), 
208 

Frank M., 208 

G. Gray, 208 

G. Nathaniel, 208 
H. G., 208 
Myrtle F., 208 



3 68 



INDEX 



Barnhart, Ruth L., 208 

Walter W., 208 
Barrett, Ann Eliza, 49 

Charles, 49 

Jane, 49 

Lewis, 26 

Mildred, 49 

Rebecca, 23 

Rebecca Lindsay, 250 

Robert, 26 
Barrick, Charles, 91 

Jane (Ramey), 91 
Bates, Nannie, 262 
Bays, J., 332 
Beggs, Abe, 200 

Maggie (Gentry), 200 
Bell, Nancy, 124 
Bellingham, Grace, 64 

Sir Allan, 64 
Bennett, Isabella (Harris), 62 

John, 62 
Benson, James H., 148 
Benton, Thomas H., 95, 96, 97, 98, 
224 

Bergin, Miss , 62 

Berkeley, Sir William, 15 
Berry, Admiral Sir John, 14, 15 

John, 86 

Lottie, 234 
Bickley, Joseph, 74 
Bigglestaff, Lena (Gentry), 207 
Billups, Ann, 43 
Bishop, J. L., 45 
Bivens, Melissa Jane, 93 
Black, Joseph, 185 

Marianne, 24, 44, 75 
Blackburn, Anna, 282 

Arena W. (Gentry), 282 

Maria, 282 

Marietta, 282 
Blacklock, Hezekiah, 24 

Jeremiah, 24 

Patty, 24 

Sarah Cade, 24 
Blaine, John, 121 

Eliza Ann (Gentry), 121, 317 
Blattenberg, Mrs. L. A., 70 
Blythe, Dovey, 59 

Grace (Smith), 237 

James, 236 

James, Major, 38, 56 

James E., 235, 236, 237 



Blythe, Jeane, 235, 236, 237 

Joseph, 236 

Lucy Ann, 59 

Mary, 38 

Mary T., 59 

Onie, 38 

Onie (Gentry), 56 

Polly, 38 

Sally, 38 

William, 38 
Boggs, Liburn W., 148 
Boin, Catherine, 82 

William, 82 
Bolton, Dr. (Mrs.), 80 
Bond, John B. (Mrs.), 288 
Bonneau, Elizabeth, 221 

Floride, 222 

Samuel, 222 
Boone, Daniel, 38, 116, 196 

George, 116 
Bower, Ann Eliza, 186 
Bowling, Adaline (Gentry), 115, 

317 

Alexander, 115 

Cammie, 115 

Elizabeth, 115 

Mary C, 115 
Boyd, James, 266 

Minnie C, 190 
Bradley, Jennie, 115 

Lucy, 92 
Brannock, Betsey, 259 

Louzina, 259 
Brashear, Guy, 119 

Nancy J. (Gentry), 119 

Brasmell, Miss , 129 

Brassfield, Samiramus, 38 
Bratton, Isabella (Means), 222 

Martha (Robertson), 222 

Mary Means, 222 

William, 222 
Breckenridge, Elizabeth, 172 

Elizabeth (Willoughby), 172 

John, 172 
Breszee, Carrie M. (Gentry), 201 

Hugh S., 201 
Brigge, Elizabeth, 236 
Bright, America, 200 

Henry, 117 

Josephine (Smith), 117 

Nancy, 123 
Briscoe, Harriet, 204 



INDEX 



369 



Brison, Mary, 211 
Broaddus, Catherine (Hawkins), 
109 

Eliza, 109 

Nicholas, 109 

Whitfield, 
Brock, Sarah, 87 
Brook, Lena, 129 
Brooks, John, 22, 26, 37 

Nancy B., 55 

Mary (Scales), 285 

Browder, Miss , 266 

Brown, Amanda T. (Gentry), 190 

Benajah, 33, 34 

Barzillan, 35 

Bezaleel, 33, 34, 44, 50 

Calidonia, 287 

Christy B., 190 

Eugene G., 190 

Frances (Mullin), 208 

Ida G., 189 

Ira B., 208 

James, Colonel, 332 

Jennie, Mrs., 129 

John, 190, 332 

Lillian, 190 

Mark, 190 

Martin, 129 

Paul, 190 

Prestley, 129 

Retta (Gentry), 129 

S. Eugene, Mrs., 65 

Samantha, 207 

Sarah Winn, 248 
Browning, Martha (Gentry), 73 
Brownlow, William C, 287, 289 
Bryan, Analyza (Gentry), 104, 212 

Carrie Alice, 170 

Davilla W. (Glascock), 116 

John, 104 

John H., 104 

Richard G., 104 
Bryant, Thomas, 99 
Buchanan, Andrew, 256 

Mary (Gentry), 256 
Buckner, Elizabeth, 286 

Judge, , 117 

Buffington, Josephine (Gentry), 
200 

W. T., 200 
Buller, Elizabeth, 64. 
Bullins, Charles, Mrs., 118 



Bullock, Liza (Gentry), 271 

W. T., 271 
Bunch, Mary, 67 
Burch, Almyra Jane, 251 

Demaries, 251 

Dennis Newton, 251 

Frances Rebecca, 251 

Gilbert Lafayette, 251 

Henry, 251 

Henry Jasper, 251 

Ida (Creps), 251 

Ira Asberry, 251 

Marie Ettie, 251 

Martin Luther, 251 

Nancy (Ferguson), 251 

Nancy Matilda, 251 

Nannie (Cunningham), 251 

Rebecca, 249 

Rebecca L. (Gentry), 251 

Samantha (Hostetter), 251 

Sarah Ann, 162, 251 

Sarah Harriett, 251 

Susan (Miller), 251 

Thomas Bradford, 251 
Burgg, Isabel (Gentry), 253 
Burkhart, Nicholas S., 148 
Burnam, Curtis, 59 
Burnett, Mary, no 
Burris, Martha, 95 

Samuel, 94 
Burt, Mathew, 23 
Burton, A. D., 81 

Amanda, 81 
Bush, Almira (Deaborne), 53 

Ambrose, 53, 55 

Ambrose G., 116, 317 

Ambrose Gohlson, 54 

Analiza (Gentry), 116 

Ann (Mitchell), 53 

Anna (Gentry), 53 

Annett H., 55 

Annetta H., 116 

Atchison, 165 

Bettie (Gentry), 165 

Catherine M., 116 

Charles Christy, 55 

Christy Gentry, 54 

Clara, 56 

Daisy, 54 

Dorinda (Crimm), 54 

Ella, 54, 55 

Ella Boone, 54 



370 



INDEX 



Bush, Fannie (Nichols), 55 
Fannie (Shields), 54 
Felix Glenroy, 53 
Felix Glenroy, Jr., 53 
Floyd, 54 
Glorenna M., 54 
Glorenna Whipple, 53 
Harriet (Hedgecoat), 54 
Henry, 54 
Henry G., 55 
J. Porter, 53, 116, 317 
James, 116, 220 
James H., 54 
James F., 55 
Jane Frances, 55 
Jeremiah, 53 
Jeremiah Porter, 55 
Jerry, 165 
Jesse J., 116 
Jessie, 55 
Julia, 54 
Julia C., 54 
Julia (Franklin), 54 
Kate C., 55 
Kate (Hampton), 55 
L. Hampton, 55, 299, 300, 317, 

321 
Lelia, 55 
Leslie, 55 
Lillian, 55 
Lucretia Jane, 53 
Lucy (Gohlson), 53 
Lula (Franklin), 55 
Martha (Hampton), 54 
Martha Jane, 54 
Mary, 220 
Mary Taylor, 53 
Matilda (Bush), 117 
Melissa, 53 
Minerva Whipple, 54 
Morgan, 165 
Nadine, 165 
Nancy, 53, 157, 158 
Nancy Ann, 53 
Nancy (Brooks), 55 
Nancy (Elkin), 54 
Nancy G., 54 
Oliver E., 54 
Oliver H., 54 
Pattie, 54 
Pauline, 48 
Prudence (Grant), 53 



Bush, Richard, 117 

Richard, Rev., 53 

Richard H. Clay, 54, 317 

Richard Gentry, 53 

Richard Lewis, 54 

Richard Rodes, 53 

Rodes, 54 

Ruth Russell (Gentry), 220 

Sarah C., 116 

Sarah G., 55 

Sarah (Rockwell), 220 

Sarah (Todd), 53 

Sue Herndon, 54 

Tilly (Smith), 54 

W. H., 315 

Walter Hamilton, 55, 317 

Wilhelmina Gentry, 210 

William, 55 

Wm. Beckner, 54 

William H., 220 

William McCoy, 54 

William Martin, Ma]., 54, 317 

Valentine R., 54 

Valentine V, 55 

Valentine W., Jr., 317 

Valentine White, 55, 317 

Zecariah, 220 
Butler, A. W., 188 

Alexander, 74 

Austin, 248 

Charles, 74 

Cora (Waldo), 297 

Elizabeth, 74 

Elizabeth A. (Gentry), 197 

Elijah, 74 

Deuzella, 74 

George Wythe, 74 

Hudson, 224 

Isaac L., 248 

Jane, 224 

Joel, 224 

John, 74, 197 

Julian G., 197 

Kate, 211 

Leland Wesley, 248 

Mable, 237 

Martha Ann, 248 

Martha V. (Gentry), 248 

Martin, 218, 223 

Mary Frances, 297 

Mary Margaret, 74 

Pierce, 297 



INDEX 



371 



Butler, Robert, 74 

Sallie, 74 

Susan E., 218, 224 

William, 74 

Valentine C, 248 

Virginia L., 248 

Virginia W., 297 
Bybee, Elizabeth, 47 

William, 47 

Cain, Celia, 39 

John, 38 

Minnie, 39 

Onie, 38 

Thomas, 39 
Caldwell, A. J, 197, 317 

E. T., 122 

Esther V., (Gentry), 122 

Martha Gentry, 317 

Martha J. (Gentry), 197 

Peter Gentry, 198, 317 
Calhoun, Catherine, 221 

Gentry, 276 

J. C, Mrs., 205 

James, 221 

John C, 221 

John Ewing, 221 

Mary, 221 

Myrtle Gentry, 12 

Myrtle (Gentry), 276 

Patrick, 221 

Rebecca, 221 

Walter Henry, 276 

Walter Henry, Jr., 276 
Callahan, Hannah (Sharp), 180 

Beston, 180 
Camp, Martha, 24 

William, 24 
Campbell, Elizabeth, 284 

John, 359 

M. M., 188 
Candee, Catherine (Gentry), 258 
Caperton, A. C, 61 

Col. , 59 

Carlin, Milton French, 233 
Carpenter, Belitha, Mrs., 298 

Mary, 200 

Ruby (Durrell), 91 

Scott, 91 
Carr, Lucy Ann, 48 

Miss 43, 71 

Thomas W., 48 



Carroll, Charles, 148 
Carson, Miss , 139 

Rhoda, 25, 136 
Carter, Charles, 280 

Eugene, 280 

Harriett, 280 

James, 280 

Jennie, 251 

Jennie (O'Neal), 280 

John, 280 

Martha Ann (Gentry), 280 

Martha (Gentry), 140 

Minnie D., 215 

Nora, 280 

Ormand, 280 

William, 280 
Cash, Gentry, 275 

James I., 275 

Sarah L. (Gentry), 275 
Casley, Edward, 74 
Caster, Susanna, 292 
Cauthorn, George, 22 

Edy, 22 
Chambers, Eliza, 252 
Chappell, Eliza B. (Gentry), 280 

John T., 279 
Chatham, Alice, 91 
Chenault, Anderson, 118 

Anderson Tiffin, 118, 317 

Armer T., 118 

Harvey E., 118 

Pattie (Parish), 118, 317 

William, 63 
Childress, May (Gentry), 284 
Christian, Gilbert, 185 
Christy, Lucy, 111 
Claborne, Anne (Layton), 63 

Edmond, 63 
Claiborne, Edmond, 64 

Elizabeth (Buller), 64 

Grace (Bellingham), 64 

Jane, 64 

Leonard, 64 

Mary, 60, 64, 228 

Sarah Ann, 263 

Thomas, 64 

William, 60, 64 

William, Col., 49, 63, 64, 229 
Clark, Ann (Scales), 285 

Gentry, 108, 307 

Isaac, 181, 184 



372 



INDEX 



Clark, Mary (Gentry), 108 

Mira, 200 

Robert, 108 

William, 285 
Clay, Brutus, 65 

Cassius M., 58 

Cassius M., Jr., 58 

John Harris, 58 

Mary (Harris), 58 

Mary Harris, 317 
Cleborne, Robert de, 63 

Thomas, 63 

Eleanor (Lancaster), 64 

Richard, 64 

Rowland, 63 
Clendenning, Lucinda B. (Gentry), 
192 

William, 192 
Cleveland, Ann, 43 

Benajah, 42 

Benjamin, Col., 42, 66 

Elizabeth, 42 

Jeremiah, 42 

Martha, 43 

Mary, 42 

Sarah, 43 

William, 42 
Cliborne, Alanus de, 63 
Cloney, Caroline (Hinsdale), 
163 

Mary Elvira (Gentry), 162 

Thomas, 162 

Thomas W., 162 

Thomas Warren, 163 

William Hughes, 162 

William Hughes, Jr., 163 
Clyborne, John de, 63 
Cobb, Lillian Stratton, 164 
Cockrell, F. M., 312 
Coleman, James, 93 

Leota, 93 

Martha Jane (Means), 93 

Mary E., 198 

Maud, 93 

Mitchell, 93 

Viola Bates, 93 
Compton, Mary (Gentry), 253 
Connally, Emily, 163 
Conner, Celia, 39 

David L., 39 

James, 39 



Conner, Minnie, 39 

Washington, 39 

William, 39 
Connoly, Alice, 274 
Conrad, Malinda (Sharp), 180 
Cook, Blanch (Gentry), 125 
Coplinger, Amanda M. (Gentry), 
189 

George, 189 

Julia G., 189 

Vida, 189 

Vira, 189 
Corley, Richard, Jr., 20 
Cornelison, Polly, 45 

Richard, 45 
Cornette, G. W., 274 

Sarah (Gentry), 274 
Cothan, George, 24 
Cox, Elizabeth (Maupin), 92 

Joseph, 92 

Rhoda (Gentry), 126 

Thomas, 126 
Craig, Margaret, 185 
Crawford, Joel, 61 

Mary, 61 

Millie, 295 

Nancy (Harris), 61 

William Harris, 61 
Creps, Ida, 251 
Crews, Elizabeth, 45 

David, 45 
Crimm, Dorinda, 54 
Crittenden, Thomas T., 313 
Crosly, Mary (Priestly), 90 
Cross, Jack, 38 

John, 38 

Sally, 38 
Crumbaugh, Andrew, 107 

Dorothy, 46 

Dorothy Ann, 106, 107 

Henry, 106 

Letta Dora, 107 

Luther H., 107 

Mary, 107 

Mary Ann, 107 

Sallie (Harbinson), 107 
Crump, Sallie, 79 

Stephen, 23 
Culbertson, Nancy, 119 
Cunningham, Nannie, 251 
Curwen, Sir Thomas, 63 



INDEX 



373 



Dabney, Anna (Harris), 61 

John, 6 1 

Mary, 62 

Mary Edwards, 286 

Mary Elizabeth, 45 

William, Mrs., 286 
Daily, John Hubbard, 24 

Thomas, 24 
Dalton, Elizabeth (Gentry), 284 

John, 284 

Madison, 285 

Mary, 285 
Dalton, Tabitha, 285 

Theodosia, 285 

William, 61 

William, Capt., 50 
Darnall, Elizabeth (Gentry), 258 
Daughton, Martha (Gentry), 274 
Davidson, Lizzie, 92 
Davis, Aaron, 49 

Bettie, 283 

Jane, 49 

Jefferson, 289 

Lelburn, 283 

Sallie (Gentry), 283 
Dawes, James, 23 
Dawson, Elijah, 43 

Elizabeth, 43 

James, 43 

Martha, 238 

Martin, 43 

Nancy, 238 

Patsey, 43 

Robert, 43 
Day, Henry, 28 

Sarah, 267 

Thomas, 28 
Deaborne, Almira, 53 
Deathridge, Nancy, 82 
Denny, Eulie, 230 

Mary, 108 
Dethridge, Amos, 46 

Susan, 46 
Dickens, Sarah, 24, 25, 39 
Dinwiddie, Patsie, 45 

William, 45 
Dodd, Ellen, 283 
Dold, Jacob C., 93 

Melissa (Means), 93 
Dorosinge, Edward,. 23 
Douglas, Alexander, 202 



Douglas, Allouise, 164 

Nannie E. (Gentry), 202 

William, 258 
Douglass, Carolina, 247 

Rev. Wm., 24, 25, 44, 74 
Doves, Olive, 118 
Drake, Adaline (Glascock), 116 

John B., 116 

Mary, 40 

Prudence, 42 

Robert, 42 

Sarah, 42 
Draper, Sarah, 143 
Drumkiller, Elizabeth, 85 
Duck, J. O., 129 

Lena Ann (Gentry), 129 
Dudley, Mary S. (Gentry), 133, 

134 

R. M., Rev., 61 

Thomas P., 134 
Duke, Basil, 282 

Clara, 272 

Evelyn (Gentry), 165 

Henry Buford, 165 
Dulaney, D. M., 45 

Delilah, 45 

G. M., 45 

Jane, 144 

Joseph, 45 

Sallie, 45 

William, 45 

William H., 45 
Duncan, Emma (Maupin), 92 

Malinda, 62 

Sterling, 92 

Susan (Harris), 101 

William H., Dr., 100 
Dunham, Harriett (Wyatt), 173 

John, 173 
Dunkin, John, Capt., 182, 183 
Dunkum, Maria Frances (Gentry), 

43 

Susan, 43 

William, 43 
Dunn, Betsie (Gentry), 246 

Elizabeth, 246 

Sarah J., 246 
Durden, Exie P., 203 
Durrell, Ann Elyza (Ramey), 91 

Anna Bell, 91 

John M., 91 



374 



INDEX 



Durrell, John R., 91 

Ruby M., 91 
Duval, Rachel (Gentry), 276 

Thomas, 276 

Early, Fannie, 81 
Edwards, Lucretia, 222 

Milly, 24 
Elkin, Ezekiel, 54 

Frances T., 83 

Glorenna (Bush), 53 

John, 63 

Laura (Joselyn), 54 

Lavina, 54 

Miss , 53 

Nancy Gohlson, 54 

Nancy Jane, 54 

Reuben, 53 

Sidney, 54 
Elliott, Analyza (Gentry), 104 

Daniel, 90 

Elizabeth, 90, 91 

Gertrude, 91 

Jael, 90 

James, 185 

James R., 90 

Jane, 90 

John, 90, 91 

Mary A., 191 

Robert, 104 

Ruth (Mather), 90 

Sallie A., 91 

Sarah L. (Ramey), 90 
Ellinsworth, Delia (Gentry), 129 
Ellis, Jane H. (Gentry), 118 

Jessie (Wilhite), 118 

Leander Eskridge, 119 

Overton Gentry, 119 

Thomas, Dr., 118 
Ellison, Garrett, 93 

Pattie (Ferrill), 117 

Thomas, 117 

Viola (Means), 93 
Elston, Alice, 170 

Allan Vaughn, 170 

Bertha, 169 

Carrie A. (Bryan), 170 

John W., Dr., 168 

John Wyatt, 170 

Lydia (Pace), 169 

Margaret, 170 



Elston, Robert Gentry, 170 

Robert P., 169 

Sarah Jane (Gentry), 168 
Embry, Emma Mrs., 48 
Engleman, Mary Catherine, 120 

Mary Clark, 60 

Mary Jane (Gentry), 60 

Reuben, 60 

Susan, 122 
Eppstein, Mrs. Viet, 70 
Estes, Carrie E. (Gentry), 193 

Davis, 193 

Mary, 37, 225 

Reuben, 37, 225 
Estis, Nadine (Gentry), 247 
Estill, James Robert, 147, 317 

Mary V, 147, 317 

Nannie E. (Gentry), 147, 317 

Nannie H., 147, 317 

Richard Gentry, 147 

William Rodes, 147 
Eubank, Mary E., 141 
Everett, Jemima, 172 
Ewing, Bettie, 262, 263 

Faddis, Jaley (Gentry), 126 

Jacob, 126 
Farrell, Alice, Mrs., 191 
Farris, Elizabeth (Means), 93 

Michael, 52 

Nancy (Gentry), 52 

Pattie, 123 

Thomas, Maj., 93 

William, 93 
Faw, Mary, 273 
Fayette, Lida Malone, 39 
Fender, Sally, 258 
Ferebaugh, C. L., 208 

Floyd Lee, 208 

Virginia L. (Gentry), 208 
Ferguson, Elizabeth (Gentry), 

139 

Nancy, 251 

Ruby (Gentry), 213 

W. J., Dr., 213 
Ferrel, Minerva, 38 

Richard G. M., 38 

Winne, 38 
Ferrell, Adeline, 120 

Albert H., 120 

Allie (Gentry), 119 



INDEX 



375 



Ferrell, Amanda, 119 

Betty Parish, 317 

Ephraim, ug 

Erodia, 119 

James E., 119 

John H., 120 

Nancy J., 119 

Onie, 119 

Penelope H., 119 

Rachel, 119 

Samuel R., 119 

Sarah E., 120 

William F., 317 
Ferrill, Bettie (Parish), 117 

Elizabeth (Smith), 117 

Jennie, 117 

Mary F., 117 

Mattie, 117 

Pattie, 117 

Taylor, 117 

Thomas, Capt., 117 

William Fountain, 117 

Woodson, 117 
Fisher, Charles F., 195 

Ellis Gentry, 195 

Marietta (Gentry), 195 
Fitzpatrick, Frances, 37 

Thomas, 37 
Flood, John, 332 
Flushman, Eugene Robinson, 298 

Henry, 298 

Henry Gentry, 298 

Rebecca J. (Gentry), 298 

William Harrison, 298 
Foley, Elizabeth, 115 
Forbes, Jane H. (Gentry), 118 

Reuben, 119 

William, 118 
Ford, Rebecca, 280 
Franklin, Hardin, 28 

I. W. R., 25 

Julia, 54 
Lula, 55 

Fremont, Jno. C, Gen., 76 
Fulkerson, Abraham, 185 

Abram, Col., 185 

Benjamin F., 185 

Catharine, 185 

Frederick, 185 

Hannah, 179, 185, 227 

Isaac, 185 



Fulkerson, Jacob, 181, 185 

James, 179, 185, 227 

John, 185 

Margaret (Craig), 185 

Mary, 185 

Mary (Van Hook), 185, 227 

Peter, 181, 185 

Polly, 185 

Richard, 181 

Robert C, 185 

Samuel V, Col., 185 

Thomas, 185 

William, 185 
Fuller, Jael (Gentry), 215 

William, Dr., 215 
Fulture, Jane, 43 

Thomas, 43 
Fuqua, Elizabeth (Foley), 115 

Henry C, 115 

Herbert A, 115 

Jennie (Bradley), 115 

Joshua G., 115 

Julia (Watson), 115 

Mary Jane (Gentry), 115 

Porter Bush, 115 

William Henry, 115 



Gafney, Anna (Gentry), 282 

John, 282 
Gains, J. H., Mrs., 249 
Galbreath, M. E. B., 202 

Sallie F. (Gentry), 202 
Galbraith, Thomas, 42 
Gamble, Hamilton R., 148 
Gardner, Sarah Ann (Burch), 

251 

Thomas G., 251 
Garges, Brooksie (Gentry), 135 

W. H., 135 
Garland, Edward, 37 
Garvin, Eva A. (Gentry), 202 
Gates, Jefferson, 45 

Talitha, 45 
Gay, Samuel, 27, 36 
Gentil, Nicholas, 14 
Gentry, A. Clay, 193 

A. M., 70 

Aaron, 23, 243, 245 

Abbie (McKeen), 203 

Abner, 113, 283 



376 



INDEX 



Gentry, Abram Morrice, 297 
Absalom, 252, 269, 317 
Ada, 204 
Adaline, 115 
Adaline (Henry), 113 
Addie F., 195 
Addie May, 113, 192 
Adelina A., 166 
Addison, 36, 49 
Addison Franklin, 280 
Agnes, 256, 268, 269, 271, 272 
Agnes (McCord), 228 
Albert, 125, 202, 210, 289, 359 
Albert Benjamin, 137 
Albert H., 137 
Albert Hudson, 7^ 
Albert R., 195 
Albert S., 203, 204 
Albert W., 85 
Alberta, 272 
Alcester, 262 
Alexander, 131 
Alexander T., 118 
Alfred, 67, 113, 129, 211, 292 
Alfred Edgar, 201 
Alfred S., 211 
Alfred Shaw, 139, 211 
Alice, 80, 207, 211, 281 
Alice B., 166 
Alice (Connoly), 274 
Allen, 22, 23, 27, 28, 255, 258, 261, 
262, 268, 269, 271, 272, 317, 360, 

363 
Allen, Col., 274 
Allen, Jr., 317 
Allen A., 255 
Allen F, Dr., 293 
Allen Carson, 233 
Allen D., 260 
Allen Russell, 232 
Allen T., 261, 262, 317 
Allie, 119 

Allie (Moore), lie 
Almira K. (Martin), 229 
Alonzo, 198 
Alonzo Henley, 231 
Alonzo Mills, 297 
Alzira Boone, 164 
Alzira (Miller), 144 
Amanda, 81, 84, 191, 194, 266, 

273, 274, 283 



Gentry, Amanda F., 112 
Amanda (Ferrell), 119 
Amanda (Haggard), 193, 239 
Amanda Mahala, 189 
Amanda Rodes, 119 
Amanda T., 190 
Amelia (Miller), 205 
America, 68 
America A., 132 
America (Bright), 199 
Amos B., 83, 135 
Analiza, 116 
Analyza, 104 
Andelusia, jt> 
Anderson, 71, 125 
Andrew, 247, 272, 273, 294, 

360 
Andrew F, 82 
Andrew J., 193, 278 
Andrew Jackson 317 
Ann, 24 

Ann Eliza (Bower), 186 
Ann Elizabeth, 69 
Ann Hawkins), 52, 94, 103, 224, 

227 
Ann (Knight), 247 
Ann Miller, 118 
Ann Padgett, 272 
Ann Redd (Major), 160 
Anna, 130, 211, 258, 282 
Anna Bell, 193 
Anna E., 55 
Anna E. (Mills), 195 
Anna H., 191 
Anna H. (Neal), 195 
Anna (Highdorn), 230 
Anna Lewis, 121 
Anna M., 140 
Anna May, 211 
Annie, 43, 80, 193, 254 
Annie E., 80 
Annie (Whyte), 232 
Aquila, 276 
Archer, 261 
Archie, 277 
Ardenia, 281 
Arena White, 282 
Arthur, 28, 258, 268 
Asa, 132 
Asa H., 204 
Atha, 363 



INDEX 



377 



Gentry, Atossa, 168 
Angelien, 208 
Augusta, 267 
Austin, 123, 127, 243, 247, 248, 

283 
B. Frank, 247 
B. Maude (Newell), 193 
Bailey, 65, 126, 127 
Barbara (Haggard), 283 
Barbara (Hall), 130 
Barbara (King), 204 
Baretta Elvira, 276 
Bartlett, 34, 40, 41, 45, 46, 70, 76, 

77, 134, 135, 265 
Bartlett J. 135 
Basil Wagstaff 24 
Belith, 298 
Bell, 118 
Bell R., 200 
Bell S., 121 
Ben, 283 
Benajah, 26, 27, 33, 34, 36, 42, 

47, 48, 71, 72, 73, 75, 363 
Benajah Brooks, 25, 40 
Benajah P., 82 
Benjamin, 270, 297, 358 
Benjamin B., 94, 165 
Benjamin G., 204 
Benjamin M., 165 
Benjamin Smith, 197, 231 
Benjamin T., 48, 83 
Betsie, 44, 70, 71, 79, 238, 246 
Betsie (Rhinehart), 71 
Betsie (Timberlake), 76 
Betsy, 277 

Betsy (Branock), 259 
Bettie, 163, 165, 246, 261 
Bettie (Davis), 283 
Bettie (Ewing), 262, 263 
Bettie (Hughes), 213 
Bettie (Lux), 130 
Bettie M., 212 
Bettie Mnnda, 206 
Bettie Smith, 164 
Beulah, 286 
Beverly, yy 
Bezaleel, 85 
Bickie, 246 
Bina, 194 
Bird, 125 
Blain, 121, 317 



Gentry, Blackston, 39, 67, 129 
Blanch, 125 
Blanche, 206 
Bluford, 128 
Blythe, 121 
Bobbie, 24 
Boone, 295 
Booth R., 248 
Bowen, 203 
Braxton C, yy 
Bright Berry, 65, 125, 202 
Brooksie, 135 
Bruce S., 141 
Bryant, 259 
C. Clark, Dr., 248 
Caledonia (Brown), 287 
Calvin, 259 
Calvin Bartlett, 134 
Cammilla, 284 
Campbell, 284 
Cane, 363 
Carolina, 266 
Carolina (Douglass), 247 
Caroline, 189, 249, 280 
Caroline M. (Whittaker), 188 
Caroline (Whitmore), 275 
Carrie Ellen, 193 
Carrie Lee (Hughes), 215 
Carrie M., 201 
Catherine, 48, 82, 121 
Catherine C, 195 
Catherine C. (James), 195 
Catherine (Richardson), 205 
Celia, 317 
Celia V., 279 

Charles, 25, 27, 40, 41, 68, 69, yi, 
72, 123, 128, 136, 247, 289, 358 
Charles B., 247 
Charles Campbell, 194 
Charles Claybourn, 85 
Charles D., 279, 292 
Charles Dabney, 280 
Charles David, 317 
Charles E., 261, 317 
Charles F., 207 
Charles H., 132 
Charles Henderson, 317 
Charles Henry, 74 
Charles Lee, 201 
Charles M., 136, 207 
Charles Marshall, 194 



378 



INDEX 



Gentry, Charles N., 166 

Charles Neal, 195 

Charles O., 135 

Charles Pinckney, 284 

Charles Richard, 122, 213 

Charles Rice, 252 

Charles Rodes, 116, 195 

Charles Ruthven, 297 

Charles V., 211 

Charles W., 15, 248, 300, 315, 
317, 360, 361 

Charles Walker, 60, 121, 304 

Christian E., 121 

Christian Engleman, 317 

Christian V., 123 

Christian Valentine, 317 

Christopher, 45, 243, 246, 298 

Christopher C, 202 

Christy, 53, in, n 3) 153, 190, 
304 

Claburn, 363 

Claiborne, 18, 263 

Clara (Duke), 272 

Clara (Krepper), 142 

Clarence P., 206 

Clarinda, 298 

Claybourn, 36, 48, 82 

Claybourne Watson, 283 

Clementine (Snow), 267 

Clifton N., 132 

Colby C, 82 

Cooper, 262 

Cora, 263, 267 

Cora D., 143 

Cora Nina, 297 

Cordie (Wilkenson), 271 

Crato, 138 

Curran, 138 

Curtis, 78 

Cynthia, 274 

Cynthia (Kindred), 128 

Cynthia (Mourning), 125 

Dabney, 49, 85 

Darthula A., 136 

David, 17, 22, 26, 27, 33, 34, 37, 
39, 45, 49, So, S3, 64, 65, 66, 
67, 75, 85, 91, 124, 125, 126, 
127, 130, 201, 202, 204, 225, 
238, 249, 255, 276, 277, 278, 
294, 298, 304, 357, 358, 359, 
363 

David Coleman, 199, 317 



Gentry, David R., 317 

David Reed, 274, 276, 360 

David Robert, 128 

David S., 85 

David T., 82, 141 

David W., 126, 203, 317, 359 

Dee, 275 

Delia, 129 

Delila, 283 

Delia, 271 

Delia V., 81 

Delphia (Heme), 77 

Diana, 24 

Dicey, 131, 246 

Dilema (Moody), 137 

Dorcey, 131 

Dora Bell, 204 

Dorinda, 135 

Doris (Miller), 271 

Dorothy, 47, 306 

Dorothy Ann, 106 

Dottie (Haggard), 194, 239 

Druella (Park), 128 

Dulaney, 134 

Earl, 286 

Eddie P., 261 

Edna M., 143 

Edgar, 211 

Edgar Hamilton, 137 

Edmund, 280, 281, 358 

Edna, 211 

Edward P., 262, 263 

Edwin, 49, 73 

Edwin Allen, 234 

Effie M., 166 

Eikel, 143 

Elbert Cisaroe, 204 

Eldridge, 85 

Eleanor, 202 

Elijah, 73, 358 

Elijah B., 69 

Elisha, 128, 280 

Eliza, 68, 125, 130, 131, 168, 250, 

258, 267, 278 
Eliza Ann, 121 
Eliza Arnor, 253 
Eliza Buckner, 280 
Eliza (Chambers), 252 
Eliza Jaella, 155 
Eliza Jane, 259 
Eliza M. (Snyder), 269 
Eliza Margaret, 202 



INDEX 



379 



Gentry, Eliza (Montgomery), 270 
Eliza (Putnam), 278 

Eliza (Thrasher), 252 

Elizabeth, 15, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 
31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 40, 43, 47, 
59, 65, 67, 68, 72, 92, 124, 126, 
127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 136, 
139, 142, 157, 199, 238, 243, 
244, 248, 253, 258, 261, 266, 
267, 269, 271 272, 284, 298, 305 

Elizabeth A., 197 

Elizabeth B., 317 

Elizabeth (Buckner), 285 

Elizabeth Butler, 219 

Elizabeth Campbell), 284 

Elizabeth (Drumkiller), 85 

Elizabeth (Dunn), 246 

Elizabeth H., 317 

Elizabeth (Henley), 199 

Elizabeth (Hornbeck), 268 

Elizabeth Jane, 73 

Elizabeth (Kindred), 127 

Elizabeth (Mann), 205 

Elizabeth (McFarland), 202 

Elizabeth (Newkirk), 131 

Elizabeth Tabitha, 286 

Elizabeth (Thomas), 247 

Elizabeth (Tooley), 43, 72 

Elizabeth (Tribble), 116 

Elizabeth (Vaughn), 252, 253 

Elizabeth (Waddell), 258 

Elizabeth (Webster), 261 

Elizabeth (White), 86 

Elizabeth (Wiles), 298 

Ella, 215 

Ella L., 143, 190, 317 

Ella (Mitchell), 283 

Ella (Parkhurst), 143 

Ella (Tussey), 213 

Ellen, 118, 137, 200, 274 

Ellen (Dodd), 283 

Ellison, 68 

Elma, 123 

Eloise (Barbiere), 206 

Elsa Edward, 286 

Elsie, 263 

Elston, 230 

Elzino, 202 

Emeline, 203, 273 

Emily, 267, 273, 289 

Emily M., 286 

Emily S., 289 



Gentry, Emily (Saunders), 287 
Emma, 211 
Emma L., 263 
Emma L. (Morrow), 201 
Emma Leora, 201 
Emma (Roberts), 231 
Emma (Rust), 122 
Emmett, 263 
Encit R., 278 
Enoch, 82 
Enoch E., 296 
Ephraim, 276 

Esther Ann (Kikendall), 121 
Esther Virginia, 317 
Esther V, 122 
Eskridge R., 200, 232 
Etta, 76 
Eugene, 190 
Eugene E., 143 
Eugene R., 80 
Eugenia (Babb), 186 
Eulie (Denny), 230 
Eva, 207 
Eva Ann, 202 
Evaline, 283 
Evelyn, 47, 48, 165 
Evelyn (Witcher), 160 
Evodia C, 190 
Evodia (Redmon), 190 
Exie P. (Durden), 203 
F. J., 133 

Fannie, 48, 76, 125, 251, 254, 264 
Fannie A., 208 
Fannie B., 279 
Fannie (Early), 81 
Fanny, 141 
Fanny Price, 278 
Farris, 123, 317 
Fenton Allen, 209, 233 
Flavel B., 82, 141 
Flavius V, 133, 359 
Fleming Paine, 282 
Flora (Speer), 207 
Florence, 81 
Florence E., 210 
Florence Eloise, 206 
Fountain, 132, 245, 247 
Frances, 37, 43, 72, 83, 210, 243, 

245, 246 
Frances C. 143 
Frances (Elkin), 83 
Frances (Naylor), 247 



3 8o 



INDEX 



Gentry, Frances (Umbarger), 254 

Francis, 260 

Francis William, 241 

Frank, 197, 200, 254, 283, 317 

Frank Hendrick, 191 

Frank K., 317 

Frank M., 318 

Frank M., Jr., 318 

Frank P., 278 

Frankie P., 244 

Franklin K., 191 

Franklin M., 197 

Fred L., 278 

Frederick, 267 

Frederick B., 266, 267, 358 

French Joshua, 194 

G. W., 259 

Gaddis, 279, 281, 357 

Garland, 68, 132 

Garland P., 47, 79 

Garrett, 245 

Gaston, 253 

George, 22, 26, 68, 76, 125, 127, 
129, 242, 244, 246, 247, 248, 
265, 268, 280, 281, 292, 29^, 

357 
George A., 245 
George C., 85, 143 
George E., 23 
George F., 81 
George J., 141 
George Mansfield, 234 
George Nicholas, 267 
George Venable, 210 
George W., 47, 81, 203, 206, 277, 

278, 358, 360 
George W., Capt., 274, 275 
George Washington, 278, 318 
George Washington, Jr., 318 
Georgia, 202 
Georgia Irene, 210 
Gertrude, 141 
Gertrude I., 208 
Gestin (Hedgepeth), 277 
Gideon, 134 

Gilbert Martin, 129, 203, 359 
Gilbert Neal, 204 
Gillie, 131 

Gracey Ann (Padgett'), 276 
Grandville, 258 
Green, 76 



Gentry, Gus, 210 
Guy R., 211 
H. B. C., 247 
Hallie, 118 
Hannah, 269 
Hardin, 245, 260 
Harman, 47, 79, 358 
Harmon, 80 
Harmon Anderson, 282 
Harriet, 139, 250 
Harriet (Briscoe), 204 
Harriet Frances, 280 
Harriet (Lilley), 85 
Harriet Sullivan, 122 
Harriett Jane, 252 
Harris F., 118 
Harrison, 105 
Harry, 73, 123 
Harry S., 211 
Harvey, 127 
Harvey B., 120 
Harvey C, 81 
Harvey Helm, 123 
Hattie C. (Morris), 190 
Hattie Morris, 190 
Hayden, 78, 139 
Hayden B., 211 
Helen, 220, 271 
Helen (Harrison), 197 
Henrietta, 116 
Henry, 39, 125, 130, 133, 246, 

248, 254 
Henry Clay, 115, 118, 146, 192, 

278, 318, 359 
Henry Clay, Jr., 318 
Henry P., 292 
Henry Walter, 204 
Hepsahitt H, 129 
Hezekiah, 17, 27, 68, 255 
Hobson, 279 
Horace, 211 
Horace B., 139, 210 
Horace Robert, 211 
Howard, 294 
Hugh, 140 
Hughes, Bettie, 213 
Hulson, 76 
Humphrey, 77 
Hyannis Newton, 254 
Ida, 267, 286 
Ida A., 204 



INDEX 



381 



Gentry, Ida R, 207 

Ida G. (Brown), 189 

Ida P., 203 

Ida (Youngblood), 123 

Ira, 251, 252, 360 

Ira E., 250 

Ira Ellis, 252 

Irene, 125, 211 

Irene Amarett, 206 

Irene May, 193 

Irvine, 203 

Irving Belith, 298 

Isaac, 247, 296 

Isaac A., 248 

Isaac ]., 73 

Isabel, 253 

Izarah P., 82 

J. B, 278 

J. F., 360 

J. Henry, 141 

J. R-, 360 

J. Richard, 296 

J. M., 70 

J. W., 278 

Jael, 215 

Jael (Hocker), 144, 155, 214 

Jael W., 318 

Jaley, 126 

Jaley (Ham), 126 

Jackson, 131 

Jacob, 269 

Jacob M., 200 

Jacob W., 278 

James, 12, 16, 18, 21, 22, 26, 
27, 43, 47, 53, 65, 67, 68, 69, 
72, 74, 77, 80, 94, 95, 113, 120, 
124, 127, 131, 132, 136, 137, 138, 
140, 165, 202, 242, 243, 244, 245, 
246, 248. 250, 252, 258, 263, 
268, 269, 270, 272, 277, 281, 
284, 286, 294, 295, 304, 357, 
358 

James, Dr., 67 

James A., 166, 360 

James Allen, 271 

James B., 121, 205, 318 

James Blythe, 116, 195, 359 

James Briscoe, 204, 232 

James C, 72, 139, 209 

James Calvin, 252 

James Christy, 119, 190 

James Clay, 209, 233 



Gentry, James Claybourn, 142 
James Dabney, 86 
James Doniphan, 195 
James Fenton, 234 
James Fisk, 206 
James H., 79, 80, 85, 124, 125, 

126, 128, 136, 141, 197, 203, 

358, 259, 
James Hurbert, 233 
James M., 47, 79, 81, 133, 135, 

203, 204, 273, 274 
James Monroe, 318 
James N., 138, 207 
James P., 295, 321 
James Pugh, 286 
James R., 266, 278 
James Ray, 234 
James Richard, 39, 68 
James T., 190 
James Thomas, 253 
James V., 128 
James W., 74, 318 
James Wayne, 271 
Jane, 26, 33, 34, 36, 43, 54, OS, 

67, 72, 92, 107, 117, 125, 127, 

254, 281, 292, 304 
Jane Ann, 85 
Jane B., 190 

Jane (Haggard), 164, 238 
Jane (Harris), 50, 62, 94, 225, 

228, 304 
Jane Harris, 56, 89, 118 
Jane (Kendrick), 64 
Jane (Kindred), 126 
Jane (Maxwell), 48 
Jane Redd, 163 
Jane (Shrives), 253 
Jane (Smiley), 266 
Jane (Tilley), 124 
Jarrett, 203 
Jay Joseph, 193 
Jeane (Blythe), 235, 236, 237 
Jefferson D., 166 
Jefferson Fisk, 205, 206 
Jemima, 244, 245, 284, 285 
Jemima (Spisa), 259 
Jennie, 70, 76, 129 
Jennie B., 142 
Jennie (Wood), 210 
Jennie (Carter), 251 
Jennie (Pofford), 252 
Jenny, 123 



382 



INDEX 



Gentry, Jeremiah, 68, 132 

Jeremiah Fisk, 134 

Jessie, 318 

Jesse, 27, 40, 41, 47, 69, 70, 79, 
137, 140, 254, 268 

Jesse B., 201 

Jesse M. 69, 358 

Jesse Tyree, 278, 318 

Joanna, 37 

Joel, 46, 76, 144 

Joel A., 251 

Joel Blythe, 164 

Joel Mann, 206 

Joel White, 89, 155 

John, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 37, 39, 
43, 46, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 
77, 80, 81, 125, 127, 128, 129, 
130, 131, 134, 136, 137, 244, 
245, 246, 247, 251, 258, 266, 
269, 272, 273, 276, 277, 281, 
282, 292, 294, 296, 298, 332, 

357, 363 
John Allen, 82, 233 
John B., 68, 133, 205, 359 
John Butler, 211 
John C, 272 

John Campbell, 116, 194, 239 
John D., 67 
John E., 241 
John R, 81, 358 
John Franklin, 118, 199, 359 
John H., 81, 84 
John Hebert, 209 
John H., 142, 277, 278 
John J., 206, 253 
John Jefferson, 206 
John Kikendall, 122 
John M., 81 
John M., Dr., 248 
John N., 125 
John O., 277 

John P., 36, 43, 47, 74, 139, 247 
John Perry, 134, 135 
John R., 202, 216, 318 
John Reuben, 165 
John Rice, 138, 209 
John S., 166 
John T., 261, 262, 263 
John Thornton, 251, 253 
John Thomas, 295, 318 
John Tilman, 141 
John W., 73 



Gentry, John Walter, 72 

John Wesley, 252, 253, 359 

John William, 248 

Joiner D., 135 

Jonathan, 258, 259 

Jonathan H., 258, 259 

Jonathan J., 202 

Jonathan Jackson, 125 

Jones H., 260 

Jorah Jane, 260 

Joseph, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 
31, 54, 56, 116, 118, 129, 153, 
156, 157, 196, 197, 198, 245, 
253, 254, 255, 268, 269, 274, 
276, 284, 292, 294, 295, 357, 
360, 363 

Joseph B., 132 

Joseph C., 201 

Joseph Collins, 121 

Joseph Combs, 297 

Joseph E., 80, 201 

Joseph Findley, 259, 260 

Joseph H., 118, 198, 359 

Joseph Helm, 121 

Joseph Jackson, 234 

Josiah Collins, 60, 120, 304, 318 

Joseph McCord, 53, 304 

Joseph Stocket, 286 

Joseph Wesley, 251 

Joseph William, 193 

Josephine, 200 

Joshua, 55, 56, 89, 113, 127, 153, 
304 

Joshua H., 191 

Joshua Henry, 113, 115, 191, 193, 

239 
Joshua Richard, 193 
Josiah, 45, 46, 75, 76, 139 
Josiah Collins, 60, 120, 304, 318 
Josiah Kansas, 76 
Jour dan, 260 
Joyner, 70, 134 
Juanita, 293 
Judith (Joyner), 40 
Julia, 197 
Julia Elizabeth, 143 
Julia H., 197, 318 
Julian Valentine, 198 
Juliet Esther (Martin), 79 
Kain A., 133 
Kate, 43, 47, 70 
Kate (Butler), 211 



INDEX 



383 



Gentry, Kate (Kenna), 248 
Kate O., 208 
Kate (Stribling), 141 
Katherine, 258 
Katie, 265, 298 
Keziah, 24 

Kittie (Webster), 261 
L. J., 200 
Lafayette, 298 
Lafe, 130 

Laura, 76, 146, 205, 213, 375 
Laura A., 201 
Laura B. (Mans), 207 
Laurance, 199, 318 
Laurena, 262 
Lavina Rebecca, 276 
Lawrence J., 143 
Leah M. (Reynolds), 115 
Lee, 267 
Lee Exter, 204 
Lee M., 215 
Lelia, 296 
Lemuel King, 130 
Lena, 207 
Lena Ann, 129 
Lena (Brook), 129 
Leta Mae, 276 
Letitia May (Lucas), 199 
Levi, 272, 273, 274, 360 
Levi Clinton, 360 
Levi Clinton, Dr., 274, 275 
Lewis Redd Major, 162 
Lillian Hicks, 206 
Lillie, 261 
Lillie J., 254, 318 
Lily (Jefferson), 206 
Liza, 271 
Lloyd, 318 
Lorenzo G., 135 
Loss, 267 

Lottie (Berry), 234 
Lou, 82 

Louis, 130, 296, 298 
Louis A, 85 
Louisa, 122, 266, 276 
Louizina (Branock), 259 
Love, 299, 315, 318 
Love S.. 272 
Low, 261 
Lucinda, 127, 298 
Lucinda Bell, 192 
Lucinda (Kindred), 127 



Gentry, Lucinda (Reid), 118 

Lucy, 26, 36, 48, 82, 83, 261, 

264, 280, 363 
Lucy Almitt, 260 
Lucy Ann, 48 
Lucy Anna, 190 
Lucy B., 279 
Lucy (Christy), III 
Lucy Frances, 262 
Lucy H., 215 
Lucy J., 84 
Lucy (King), 283 
Lucy (Lake), 49 
Lucy Nancy, 189 
Lucy V., 318 
Lucy W., 171 
Lula, 81 
Lula B., 278 
Lula F., 262 

Luthana (Sandridge), 248 
Luther B., 207 
Lydia Harris, 259 
M. C, 141 
M. W., 25 
Mabel, 32 
Mable, 15, 23 
Madaline (Barbere), 135 
Madaline May, 135 
Madison K., 83, 141 
Mae (Hamilton), 275 
Maggie, 200 
Maggie (Littell), 122 
Maggie P., 200, 286 
Mahala, 261 
Major B., 296 
Malcom Stephen, 195 
Malinda, 261 
Malinda (Hall), 81 
Manery, 48 
Maranda, 128 
Marcellius, 283 
Marcus C, 262 
Marcus Lafayette, 94 
Margaret, 82, 127, 131, 253, 292 
Margaret (Armstrong), 142 
Margaret (Robinson), 165 
Maria, 279 
Maria Frances, 74 
Maria (Miller), 200 
Marina B., 69 
Marianna Black, 44 
Marida P., 296 



384 



INDEX 



Gentry, Marietta, 195 
Mark, 359 
Markes C, 318 
Martha, 45, 71, 72, 73, 108, 126, 

140, 192, 274, 294 
Martha A., 84 
Martha A. Jones), 290 
Martha Ann, 135, 201, 280 
Martha Ann (Butler), 248 
Martha E., 125, 136 
Martha J., 135, 197 
Martha Jane (Smith), 196 
Martha (Jones), 125 
Martha (Spratt), 266 
Martha Thatcher, 279 
Martha V., 73, 248 
Martha (Young), 210 
Martin, 17, 25, 27, 33, 34, 37, 
39, 40, 41, 44, 46, 65, 67, 68, 
7i, 76, 77, 9i, 107, 113, 127, 
128, 131, 136, 139, 318, 357, 363 
Martin Butler, 220 
Martin E., 247 
Martin M., 128, 359 
Martin W., 136, 359 
Mary, 27, 33, 34, 37, 40, 42, 44, 
65, 68, 71, 80, 107, 108, 113, 
126, 130, 137, 170, 190, 205, 213, 
220, 238, 253, 254, 255, 256, 
258, 264, 266, 272, 273, 281, 
284, 285, 286, 289, 294 
Mary A., 143 
Mary A. (Elliott), 191 
Mary Alice, 142, 201 
Mary Ann, 119, 252, 278, 281, 

282 
Mary Bell, 194, 233 
Mary (Brison), 211 
Mary (Bunch), 67 
Mary C, 123, 267, 276 
Mary C. (Engleman), 120 
Mary Cabell, 122 
Mary (Carpenter) 200 
Mary Catherine, 73 
Mary Clark, 318 
Mary D., 190 
Mary (Dabney), 286 
Mary E., 84, 123 
Mary E. (Banta), 120 
Mary E. (Eubank), 141 
Mary Ella, 115, 192 
Mary Ellen, 128 



Gentry, Mary Eliza, 203 
Mary Elizabeth, 280 
Mary Elvira, 162 
Mary (Estes), 225 
Mary Etta, 318 
Mary F. (Reed), 262 
Mary (Faw) 273 
Mary Frances, 117, 128 
Mary Frances (Rather), 297 
Mary (Henley), 198 
Mary (Heme), 75 
Mary (Hicks), 244 
Mary Jane, 112, 115, 135 
Mary Jane Estes, 60, 304 
Mary (Kindred), 128 
Mary L. (Coleman), 198 
Mary Lee (Payne), 230 
Mary M., 208 
Mary (McCarty), 75 
Mary (Mansfield), 209 
Mary Margaret, 74 
Mary Margaret (Porter), 74 
Mary (Maxwell), 49 
Mary (Miller), 281 
Mary Neil (Wyatt), 167, 173 
Mary (Norman), 202 
Mary (Nunn), 266 
-Mary (Quisenbury), 82 
Mary (Reeves), 273 
Mary S., 133, 134 
Mary (Smith), 134 
Mary Smith, 206 
Mary (Somers), 137 
Mary Susan (Pugh), 286 
Mary (Timberlake), 44 
Mary (Todd), 186, 230 
Mary (Van Meter), 297 
Mary Virginia, 147, 297 
Mary W., 272 
Mary Waddington, 206 
Mary (Wingfield), 73 
Mary (Wright), 74 
Mary (Wyatt), 224 
Massie, 270 
Mathed, 269 

Matilda A. (Smith), 296 
Matilda (Spanger), 263 
Matilda (Webster), 120 
Matthew, 28, 259, 268, 270 
Mattie, 141, 261 
Mattie Lee (Smith), 231 
Mattie (Prewitt), 216 



INDEX 



385 



Gentry, Maud, 286 
Maud Lee, 281 
May, 284 
Meredith, 134 
Meredith, P., 12, 18 
Meredith Pomdexter, 285, 287, 

299, 332, 338 
Meshack, 28, 256, 260, 278, 318, 

357 
Michael, 363 
Mildred, 24, 49, 193 
Mildred A., 84 
Millie, 23 

Millie (Crawford), 293 
Milly, 25 
Minerva, 127 
Minerva Jane, 252 
Minerva Walters, 122 
Minnie, 141 

Minnie D. (Carter), 215 
Minnie (Gotchchalk), 194 
Minnie (Gray) 233 
Minnie Jones, 262 
Mira (Clark), 200 
Mirand Catherine (Walker), 

232 
Missouri (Norman), 202 
Molly (Williams) 286 
Monroe, 68, 260 
Mordacia, 281 
Moses, 26, 27, 33, 34, 36, 37, 

47, 49, 75, 77, 80, 238, 363 
Moses M., 26 
Moulton Woodson, 282 
Myrtle, 276 

Myrtle (Stephenson), 191 
N. A. (Stribling), 140 
N. C, 70 
N. H., 87 

N. M. (Hays) 140 
Nadine E., 247 
Nancy, 24, 26, 39, 46, 53, 67, 72, 

73, 76, 77, 107, 127, 136, 243, 

244, 245, 250, 260, 261, 273, 

285, 304 
Nancy Ann, 89 
Nancy Ann (Hawkins), 109 
Nancy (Bell), 124 
Nancy Boone, 118, 156, 215 
Nancy (Bright), 123 
Nancy Catherine, 123 
Nancy (Culbertson), 119 



Gentry, Nancy (Deathridge), 82 

Nancy E., 259 

Nancy E. (Riley), 261 

Nancy Elizabeth, 120 

Nancy Emily, 252 

Nancy G, 253 

Nancy (Greer), 276 

Nancy (Guthrie), 52, 225 

Nancy Harrie, 92 

Nancy (Hough), 67 

Nancy Jane, 119, 125 

Nancy Mann, 206 

Nancy (Mann), 205 

Nancy (Miller), 83 

Nancy (Moore), 84 

Nancy (Paine), 79 

Nancy (Plummer), 273 

Nancy (Thompson), 75 

Nannie, 120, 262 

Nannie B., 263 

Nannie (Bates), 262 

Nannie E., 202 

Nannie Elizabeth, 147 

Nannie K., 142 

Nannie Lizzie, 203 

Nannie M., 215 

Nanny, 284 

Naomie V., 202 

Napoleon, 133, 205, 359 

Napoleon B., 205 

Napoleon Francis, 197 

Narcissa (Wallard), 166 

Nathan, 24, 26, 33, 34, 44, 75, 
258, 259, 363 

Neil, 70 

Nellie (Adams), 193 

Nellie E., 201 

Nellie Marie, 193 

Nellie (Mills), 200 

Nellie P., 262 

Nelson, 48 

Nelson Bush, 48, 83 

Nettie, 123 

Nettie V., 201 

Newton, 260 

Nicholas, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 
28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 39, 44, 
49, 66, 68, 76, 77, 225, 241, 255, 
265, 266, 267, 268, 272, 273, 276, 

281, 331, 357, 358, 363 
Nicholas, II, 238 



3 86 



INDEX 



Gentry, Nicholas Hawkins, 108, 
188, 359 
Nicholas Hocker, 155, 214 
Nicholas M., 138 
Nina, 202 
Nina Keith, 233 
Nina McDonald (Mann), 232 
Nora, 205 
Nora B., 142 
Nora (Gosney), 191 
North Todd, 187, 230, 299, 307, 

3i8, 321 
Oby, 281 

Obednigo, 28, 256 
Oliver H., 135 
Oliver Perry, 77, 106, 171, 186, 

229, 306, 318 
Olivia, 260 
Oney, 65, 126 
Onie, 38, 51 
Ophelia, 202, 267 
Ora, 267, 275 
Orlena B., 136 
Orma, 82 
Orpha, 202 
Orville L., 201 
Oscar D., 204 
Othanial, 277 
Overton, 56, 115, 116, 118, 192, 

304, 316 
Overton A., 318 
Overton H., 118, 192, 198, 199, 

200, 231, 318 
Overton Harris, 113, 118, 193 
Owen, 283 

Parmelia (Mitchell), 207 
Pascal, 246 
Patrick, 44, 74, 282 
Patsey, 43, 243 
Patsey (Hicks), 247 
Paterson, 272 
Pattie (Farris), 123 
Pattie F., 208 
Patty, 34 
Paulina, 78, 82 
Paulina (Shelton), 204 
Paulina (Wright), 253 
Pauline (Baker), 262 
Pauline (Bush), 48 
Pearl, 123 
Pearl Denny, 318 
Pearl D., 201 



Gentry, Peggy, 125 
Peggy (Ogg), 245 
Permelia, 76 
Perry, 67 
Peter, 23 
Peter B., 200 
Peter T., 123, 197 
Peter Tribble, 117, 196, 231 
Philip, 276, 298 
Philip Brooks, 289 
Philip Hudson, 137 
Pina (Hall), 39 
Pleasant, 48, 65, 125, 127, 203, 

281 
Pleasant A., 201 
Pleasant E., 261, 318 
Pleasant Edward, 281 
Pleasant F., 260, 358 
Pleasant K., 128, 359 
Pleasant T., 82 
Pocahontas, 206 
Polk, 269 
Pollie, 46, 47, 124 
Polly, 37, 70, 72, 77, 126, 127, 

244, 246, 248, 258, 261 
Polly A. (Groom), 201 
Polly (Johnson), 283 
Polly (Marks), 279 
Polly (Ogg), 245 
Price H., 204 
Priscilla (Graham), 135 
Proctor, 215 
Quinton, 68 
R. L., 81 

Rachel, 40, 41, 130, 298 
Rachel (West), 40 
Raleigh, 253, 360 
Ralph L., 81 
Randel, 332 
Ransom, 67, 129, 359 
Ransom Henry, 129 
Rebecca, 139, 259, 281 
Rebecca (Barnett), 267 
Rebecca Boyce (Sappington), 285 
Rebecca (Ford), 280 
Rebecca Jane, 298 
Rebecca (Jones), 278 
Rebecca L., 251 

Rebecca Lindsay (Barrett), 250 
Rebecca (Reeves), 274 
Rebecca (Rigons), 259 
Rebecca (Tyree), 278 



INDEX 



387 



Gentry, Renna, 206 

Retta, 129 

Reuben, 89, 118, 145, 149, 156, 
157, 198, 212, 215, 246, 261, 
262, 318 

Reuben, Dr., 284, 285 

Reuben E., 47 

Reuben Estes, 50, 53, 86, 89, 304 

Reuben Jael, 359 

Reuben Joel, 146, 212, 213 

Rhoda (Thomas), 270 

Richard, 15, 16, 23, 28, 37, 46, 
49, 52, 56, 59, 62, 64, 65, 67, 
76, 88, 89, 94, 112, 118, 121, 
123, 126, 127, 138, 144, 145, 
146, 148, 149, 168, 188, 189, 
197, 205, 213, 214, 216, 223, 
225, 226, 230, 250, 254, 272, 
273, 276, 277, 295, 296, 299, 
300, 304, 315, 3i8, 321, 353, 
357, 358, 359, 360, 363 

Richard, Gen., 45, 46, 50, 53, 94, 
95, 109, 146, 148, 187, 212, 224, 
227, 299, 304, 313 

Richard A., 81 

Richard E., 272 

Richard Benton, 113, 191 

Richard Blythe, 235 

Richard C, 120 

Richard Christy, 190 

Richard Cleveland, 274 

Richard Collins, 121 

Richard H., 258, 318, 321, 353 

Richard Hardin, 219, 235 

Richard Harrison, 105, 106, 166, 
173, 224, 305, 358 

Richard Haven, 211 

Richard Henry, 195, 252, 254, 318 

Richard Howard, 251 

Richard J., 250, 363 

Richard Jones, 253 

Richard K., 133, 205, 359 

Richard N., 375 

Richard Rodes, 201 

Richard T., 92, 215, 318 

Richard Thompson, 164 

Richard W., 278 

Richard White, 147, 213 

Rhoda, 126, 272 

Rhoda Caroline, 259 

Rhoda (Carson), 136 

Rhoda (Harris), 128 



Gentry, Robert, 25, 27, 28, 33, 34, 
40, 42, 69, 70, 72, 73, 79, 122, 
123, 134, 137, 139, 206, 265, 271, 
280, 304, 331, 363 

Robert, Dr., 284 

Robert A., 84, 142 

Robert C, 135 

Robert E., 85, 142 

Robert Harvey, 279 

Robert Henry, 206 

Robert Huston, 121 

Robert L., 200 

Robert M., 72, 203 

Robert N., 247 

Robert Nicholas, 49 

Robert Preston, 69 

Robert R., 81 

Robert Richard, 60, 120, 121 

Robert T., 262, 318 

Robert Thomas, 73 

Rodes, 56, 119, 191, 304 

Rodes Rollins, 113 

Rody Ann, 203 

Rosa J., 279, 318 

Rose Etta, 210 

Roy Erwin, 142 

Ruby, 213 

Ruth, 132, 141, 286 

Ruth Rogers, 284, 285 

Ruth Russell, 219 

Ruth W., 201 

Sallie, 43, 70, 80, 123, 124, 129, 
283 

Sallie Burch, 213 

Sallie (Crump), 79 

Sallie F., 202 

Sallie (Glascock), 194 

Sallie (Harding), 197 

Sallie J., 208 

Sallie (Roberts), 79 

Sallie (Sargent), 74, 137 

Sally, 278, 298 

Sally (Fender), 258 

Sally Pugh, 286 

Samantha (Brown), 207 

Samaria, 296 

Samuel, 14, 16, 21, 23. 25, 26, 28, 
31, 68, 130, 131, 132, 191, 241, 
265, 267, 268, 270, 271, 282, 
284, 296, 358, 360, 363 

Samuel C, 136, 206, 359 

Samuel C, Jr., 207 



388 



INDEX 



Gentry, Samuel F., 81 
Samuel K., 122, 318 
Samuel L., 68, 133 
Samuel Mallery, 252 
Samuel R., 119 
Samuel Watson, 284 
Sarah, 26, 27, 40, 68, 80, 89, 246, 

260, 264, 269, 272, 273, 274, 

292, 295, 298 
Sarah Ann (Claiborne), 263 
Sarah (Brock), 87 
Sarah (Day), 267 
Sarah (Dickens), 39 
Sarah (Draper), 143 
Sarah E., 84, 85, 267 
Sarah J. (Dunn), 246 
Sarah J. (Vauden), 210 
Sarah Jane, 168 
Sarah (Johnson), 66 
Sarah L., 275 
Sarah Littlepage, 271 
Sarah Louise, 206 
Sarah (McKinzie), 166 
Sarah Perrine, 24, 39 
Sarah (Sparks), 272 
Sarah (Stringer), 129 
Sarah Tylre, 278 
Sarah W., 248 
Sarah Winn (Brown), 248 
Sarah (Woodward), 76 
Saul W., 251 
Scottie, 262 
Seaborn, 67 
Sealey E., 132 
Seaton, 128 

Selma (McFarland), 202 
Shadrack, 256, 257 
Shelton, 268, 363 
Sidney B., 253, 360 
Sidney M., 94, 165 
Sidney Taylor, 86 
Silas, 134, 247 
Silas C, 360 
Simon, 276, 295, 296, 363 
Smith, 59, 318 
Sophia, 82, 140 
Sophronia, 84 
Spencer, 294 
Spicey, 126 
Spicey B., 203 
Squire, 128 
Staunton, 48 



Gentry, Stephen Quincy, 232 
Stonewall Jackson, 209, 234 
Stonewall Percy, 234 
Suckey, 46 

Sudema (Thomas), 276 
Sue (Williams), 286 
Susan, 43, 77, 80, 123, 127, 137, 

139, 260, 281, 282, 295 
Susan A., 23, 138 
Susan (Butler), 224 
Susan E., 73 
Susan E. (Butler), 218 
Susan Eliza, 113 
Susan (Engleman), 122 
Susan F., 318 
Susan Jane, 23, 245 
Susan M., 198 
Susan (Maupin), 45 
Susan T. (Mans), 207 
Susan (Thomas), 75, 286 
Susan (Vaughn), 251 
Susan (Woodson), 83 
Susanna, 284, 292 
Susanna (Caster), 292 
Susie, 12, 287, 291, 300, 315, 3l8 
Sylvester L., 85, 143, 359 
T. J., 81 

T. Thomas Perry, 206 
Tabitha, 284, 285 
Taylor, 68 
Taz, 71 
Temple, 279 
Tennessee (Holt), 286 
Texas, 141 
Theodorick, 137, 294 
Theodorie, 251 
Theodosia, 283 

Theodosia (Poindexter), 283 
Theodosia Poindexter, 286 
Theophilus Lacy, 285 
Theresa, 273 
Thomas, 43, 69, 71, 123, 124, 130, 

247, 248, 253, 266, 268, 270, 

276, 284, 292, 294, 358, 360 
Thomas B., 230, 253 
Thomas Benton, 100, 108, 186, 

187, 299, 300, 304, 307, 3I5> 

3i8, 32S 
Thomas Blythe, 198 
Thomas Christy, 189 
Thomas E., 81 
Thomas Elders, 234 



INDEX 



389 



Gentry, Thomas Ellis, 193 
Thomas F., 85, 200 
Thomas Frederick, 231 
Thomas G., 279, 292, 293, 319 
Thomas Gray, 22,2, 
Thomas J., 46, 48, 76, 81, 138, 

139, 140, 203 
Thomas Jefferson, 118 
Thomas P., 251, 360 
Thomas Piner, 253 
Thomas Rice, 233 
Thomas Sappington, 286 
Thomas Winston, 85 
Thompson, 78 
Timberlake, 138 
Timothy, 241 
Tipton, 128 
Tucker, 73 
Turner, 137, 279 
Tyre, 123 

Tyre Martin, 60, 304 
U. M., 259 
Uriah M., 283 
Uriah Wilkenson, 280 
Valentine, 198 
Valentine B., 211 
Valentine White, 60, 122, 304 
Vera Mary, 193 
Viola B., 142 
Virginia, 84, 85, 281 
Virginia C, 195 
Virginia L., 203, 208 
Virgil L., 296 
W. A, 245 
W. F., 360 

W. H., 251, 299, 300, 315 
W. R., 258 
Wallace, 254 
Walter, 71 
Walter Allen, 201 
Walter F, 210 
Walter Lee, 80 
Walter Robertson, 232 
Washington, 134 
Washington Hawley, 282 
Watson, 12, 281, 283, 284, 286, 

332, 360, 363 
Watson M., 319 
Watson Meredith, Dr., 286, 

290 
Wesley, 39, 40, 71, 136, 278 
Westley, 125 



Gentry, Wiley, 258, 259 

William, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 
37, 43, 47, 49, 67, 69, 71, 72, 
75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 84, 89, 
107, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 
130, 131, 132, 134, 136, 139, 146, 
157, 159, 204, 243, 245, 248, 
249, 254, 255, 270, 272, 376, 
280, 281, 284, 286, 292, 293, 
294, 296, 298, 312, 313, 332, 
358, 359 

am, Ma,]., 359 

am A., 140, 258, 293, 296, 



Will 
Will 
358 

Win 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
262 
Will 
Will 

319 

Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 
Will 

359 

Will 
Will 
Will 



Will 
Will 



am B., 74, 137, 205, 250 

am Barnett, 251 

am Benjamin, 248 

;am Berkley, 289 

am Burton, 252 

am C, 84, 85, 143, 247, 

2 

am Christopher, 125 

am Christopher Columbus, 

) 

am Christy, 198 

am Claybourne, 283 

am D., 139, 210 

am E., 118, 140 

am Ellis, 251 

am Eskridge, 1 18, 200 

am F., 138, 276 

am Francis Latimer, 295 

am Frank, 210, 286 

am Gravit, 24 

am H., 81, 140, 198, 359, 360 

am H., Capt., 273 

am H. H., 210 

am Harrison, 118, 229, 298 

am Haywood, 252, 359 

am Henry, 157, 194, 213 

am Henry Harrison, 319 

am J., 201 

am J., Sr., 281 

am J., Jr., 281 

am James, 60, 123, 304, 315, 



am Latimer, 295 

am Lewis, 137 

am M., 80, 123, 146, 212, 



283, 359 



am N., 266 

am Overton, 119, 201 



390 



INDEX 



Gentry, William R., 321 

William Richard, 115, 187, 230, 

231, 307, 359 

William S., 135, 278 

William T., 124, 137, 207, 275 

William Tandy, 112, 189 

William Thomas, 209, 232 

William Wesley, 253 

Willie C, 263 

Willie Mansfield, 233 

Willie T., 262 

Wilson, 142, 282 

Wingfield, 128 

Winifred, 37, 51 

Winnie, 65 

Winnie E., 128 

Winnie (Music), 75 

Winston, 49 

Woodson H., 77 

Wyat, 24, 44, 74 

Wyatt, 67 

Zachariah, 39 
Getoe, William, 22 
Gibson, Frances (Gentry), 246 

Jemima (Gentry), 245 

Simeon A., 246 

Thomas, 246 

William, 45 
Giles, Elizabeth (Gentry), 68 

Gentry, 68 

John, 68 
Gillam, Elizabeth, 43 

Verlinda, 92 
Gillette, Fannie E., 115 

Fred, 115 

Mary (Bowling), 115 

S. A., 115 
Gist, Levi, 207 

Rosa (Green), 70 
Glascock, Adaline, 116 

Amanda (Gentry), 194, 319 

Amanda L., 193 

Annie (Gentry), 193 

Annie O., 193 

Bina Pledge, 193 

Campbell H., 193 

Catherine P., 116 

Davilla W., 116 

Edna, 194 

F. W., 193 

Gentry, 193 

Henrietta, 319 



Glascock, Henrietta G, 116 

Henrietta (Gentry), 116 

Henry Hobson, 116, 319 

Nettie Bell, 193 

Mary Lucy, 116 

Lucile, 194 

Sallie, 194 

Stephen, 116 

William, 194 
Glenn, Jeremiah, 23 
Gohlson, Lucy, 53 
Golden, Napoleon B., 139 

Susan (Gentry), 139 
Goodman, C. H. S., 187 

Mary Catherine (Gentry), 73 
Goodwin, Elizabeth, 43 

Frances, 83 

Gentry, 84 

John Herndon, 84 

Wallace Wyan, 84 

William, 43 
Gordon, Anna, 108 

Albert, 143 

Boyle, 108 

Cammie (Bowling), 115 

Frances A., (Gentry), 143 

Gentry S., 115 

Marshall, 108, 307, 319 

Mary (Denny), 108 

Mary (Gentry), 108 

John B., 109 

Joseph A., 115 

Sophia (Hawkins), 109 
Gosney, Nora, 191 
Gotchchalk, Minnie, 194 
Graham, Priscilla, 135 
Grant, Prudence, 55 
Gray, Minnie, 233 

Mrs. W. 0., 70 
Green, Ann (Marshall), 222 

Ann (Willis), 222 

Caroline, 222 

Diah, 265 

Duff Cyrus, 222 

Duff, Gen., 222 

Fannie (Gentry), 264 

Henderson P., 70 

J. P-, 55 

James P., 116 

Katie (Gentry), 70, 265 

Lucretia (Edwards), 222 

Martin, 264, 265 



INDEX 



391 



Green, Rebecca (Pickens), 222 

Rosa, 70 

Sallie, 70 

Sarah (Bush), 55, 116 

W. J., 70 

Wesley, 70, 265 

William, 222 
Greer, Nancy, 276 
Gregory, Alfred, 107 

Josephine (Karnes), 107 
Griffin, George H., 200 

John, 332 

Maggie P. (Gentry), 200 
Groom, Polly A., 201 
Grimes, Elizabeth (Hawkins), 109 

John, 109 
Grubbs, Elizabeth, 62 

Nancy, 62 
Guitar, John, 101 

Odon, Gen., 100 
Gum, Oney (Gentry), 126 

Stephen, 126 
Guthrie, Nancy, 52, 225 

Nathaniel, 52, 225 



Hackley, James H., 205 

Nora (Gentry), 205 
Haggard, Alfred, Rev., 239 

Amanda, 193, 239 

Barbara, 23, 283 

Bartlett, 238 

Betsie (Gentry), 238 

Elizabeth, 33, 34, 36 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 65, 238 

Elizabeth (Hayes), 238 

Edmund, 238 

Edward, 65 

David, 65, 238, 239 

David Gentry, 65 

Dottie, 194, 239 

Frank, 26 

Henry, 238 

James, 238 

Jane, 64 

John, 238 

Martha (Dawson), 238 

Martin, 238 

Mary, 46, 238 

Nancy (Dawson), 238 

Mary (Gentry), 65, 238 

Mary (Sheppard), 238 



Haggard, Nathaniel, 33, 65, 238 

William, 65, 238 
Hale, Ora (Gentry), 275 
Hall, Barbara, 130 

F. P., 136 

Gentry, 136 

Malinda, 81 

Orlena B. (Gentry), 136 

Pina, 39 
Ham, Jaley, 126 
Hamilton, Frederick, 180 

Frederick A., Mrs., 167 

Mae, 275 

Margaret (Sharp), 180 

Mary (Maupin), 92 

Robert, 25 

S., 82 

Samuel, 92 
Hampton, Alfred W., 190 

Christy G, 190 

Gordon Christy, 190 

James E., 190 

Kate, 55 

Kittie, 54 

Lucy Anna, (Gentry), 190 

Martha J., 54 

Minnie C. (Boyd), 190 

Samuel S., 190 

William B., 190 

Willie Lee, Miss, 190 
Hanson, Richard, 23 
Harbinson, Sallie, 107 
Hardin, Charles H., 38 

Clyde G, 208 

Edward, 16, 25 

Ellen (Gentry), 274 

George, 43 

Ira Brown, 208 

J. Nathaniel, 208 

Kate O. (Gentry), 208 

Mary V., 208 

Robert Lee, 208 

Sallie, 43 

W. P., 208 

William, 274 

Willie O., 208 
Harding, Sallie, 197 

Tabitha (Gentry), 284 
Hardy, Sarah E. (Gentry), 267 
Harkless, James, 90 

Jane (Elliott), 90 
Harralson, Peter, 21 



39 2 



INDEX 



Harris, Ann (Oldham), 62 
Anna, 61 

Agnes (McCord), 62 
Amanda (Gentry), 283 
Barnabas, 62 
Benjamin, 62 
Benjamin, Capt., 50 
Christopher, 37, 5°, 56, 61, 64, 

225, 228 
Dabney, 62 

Elizabeth (Grubbs), 62 
Elizabeth (Oldham), 62 
Henrietta, 46 
Isabella, 62 
James, 35, 62 
Jane, 50, 56, 62, 64, 94, 225, 228, 

304, 315 
John, 56, 62 
John D., Mrs., 300 
John Duncan, 56, 58, 62, 315, 

319, 321 
John Duncan, Jr., 58 
John W., 87 
Malinda (Duncan), 62 
Lucy, 61 
Margaret, 62 
Margaret (Maupin), 62 
Mary, 58, 61, 62 
Mary (Claibourne), 64, 228 
Mary (Dabney), 62 
Mary (Rice), 60 

Miss , 45 

Mourning Glen, 61, 62, 64 

Mourning Glen (Gentry), 228 

Nancy, 61 

Nancy (Grubbs), 62 

Nancy Jane (White), 56 

Nancy (Oldham), 62 

Nancy (Wilkerson), 62 

Nannie White, 319 

Overton, 62, 283 

Pattie, 57 

Rhoda, 128 

Robert, 60. 61. 62, 64, 228 

Robert. Ma]., 50, 64, 228 

Samuel, 62 

Sarah, 37, 61, 62 

Susan, 101 

Temperance (Overton), 60, 64, 

228 
Thomas, 63 



Harris, Tyre, 61 

William, 60, 61, 62, 64, 228 

William, Ma/., 57, 62 

Wm. Valentine White, 57 
Harrison, Gen. Wm. H., 18, 75 

Helen, 197 
Hart, G. C, 148 
Harvey, Elizabeth (Gentry), 244 

Polly (Gentry), 244 

Richard, 244 
Hausman, Lulu, 93 
Hawkins, Ann, 94, 224, 227 

Ann (Robinson), 103, 109, 227 

Carry Allen, 109 

Catherine, 109 

Cecelia (Walker), 109 

Charles, 63 

Charles J., 109 

Dorothy, 109 

Elizabeth, 109 

Jane B. (Gentry), 190 

John, 63 

John Jacob, 189 

Joshua, 23 

Lucy N. (Gentry), 189 

Mary Caroline, 189 

Martha, 109 

Nancy Ann, 109 

Nathan, 109, no, 227 

Nicholas, 94, 103, 109, no, 224, 

227, 357 

Oscar, 190 

Sallie, 52 

Sarah, 109 

Simon, no 

Sir John, 103, 109, 227 

Sophia, 109 

William, 103, 109, 227 
Hayden, John, 45 

Pollie, 45 
Hayes, Elizabeth, 238 
Hays, N. M., Miss, 140 
Hedgecoat, Harriet, 54 

Miss . 53 _ 

Hedgepeth, Gestin, 277 

Ayers, 277 
Henderson, Theodosia (Scales), 

285 
Henley, Elizabeth, 199 

Mary, 198 
Henry, Adaline, 113 



INDEX 



393 



Henry, Patrick, 20 

Henshaw, Evaline (Gentry), 283 

Pleasant, 283 
Henson, Benjamin, 74 

Herbert, Miss , 273 

Heme, Delphia, yj 

Mary, 75 
Hicks, Mary, 244 

Patsey, 247 
Highdorn, Anna, 230 
Hill, Edward, Col., 16 

Lillian O., 164 

T. P., 315 
Hillman, Daniel, 289 

Emily S. (Gentry), 289 

James H., 289 

Mary (Gentry), 289 

Meredith P., 289 

Thomas T., 289 
Hinsdale, Caroline, 163 
Hinson, Mary, 22> 
Hix, John, 23 
Hocker, Jael W., 144, 155 

Nicholas, 155 

Nicholas, Col., 144 
Hodges, Nancy E. (Gentry), 259 
Holdman, John, 38 

Nancy, 38 
Holladay, Benjamin, 148 
Holliway, Nancy Ann (Bush), 53 
Holt, Tennessee, 286 

Honshell, Miss , 211 

Horn, Elizabeth (Hunter), 172 

Josiah, 172 

Winifred, 172 
Hornbeck, Elizabeth, 268 
Hostetter, Samantha, 251 
Hough, Nancy, 67 
Howard, Joseph, 107 

Howell, Miss , 273 

Hnckstep, Aggie, 27 

James, 27 
Hudnal, Annie, 108 

Eliza, 108 

Herod Wales, Dr., 107 

Jane (Gentry), 107 

Laura, 108 

Mary, 108 

Paul, 108 
Hudson, Thomas J., 152 
Hughes, Abijah, 162 



Hughes, Carrie Lee, 215 

Elex, Dr., 173 

Elvira (Sharp), 180 

James, 180 

Mary Elvira (Gentry), 162 

Reese, 213 

Reese, Col., 162 

Sarah H. (Wyatt), 173 

William, 162 
Hull, Thomas, 27, 37 
Hulse, Elizabeth (Gentry), 126 

Thomas, 126 
Humfield, Simon, 172 
Hundley, George S., 188 
Hunter, Bettie Irene, 53, 119 

David Chenault, 53 

Elizabeth, 172 

Jane, 53 

Mary Lucy, 53, 319 

Melissa (Bush), 53, 319 

Richard D., 319 

Richard Bush, 53, 319 

Riland Dillard, 53 
Hurst, Irene (Gentry), 125 
Hutchins, Mattie (Gentry), 141 
Hutchinson, N., 148 

Irvine, Shelby, 59 
Mrs. Wm, 59 

Jackson, Andrew, Gen., 18 
C. R, 148 

Elizabeth, 46 

Israel, 46 

Susan J. (Gentry), 245 

William E., 245 

W. E., 23 
James, Catharine C, 195 

Madaline (Gentry), 135 

Margaret (Wyatt), 173 

Wynne, 135 
Jarman, Wm., 35 
Jarmon, Dabney M., 45 

Fannie, 45 
Jefferson, Lilly, 206 

Thomas, 280 
Jeffries, Col. Herbert, 14, 15 
Jenkins, Ann, 33, 34 
Jocelyn, Laura, 54 
Johnson, Anna (Gentry), 258 

Elizabeth (Bowling), 115 



394 



INDEX 



Johnson, Frances (Gentry), 245 

Isaac, 28 

James, 245 

James, Dr., 115 

Jane, 180 

John A., 115 

Joshua D., 115 

Pauline, 115 

Polly, 283 

Margaret A., 115 

Sarah, 66 
Jones, Bailey, 129 

Compton, 252 

David L., 192 

Foster, 62 

George, 62 

Harriett (Gentry), 252 

Humphrey, 46 

Martha, 125 

Martha A., 290 

Martha (Gentry), 192 

Mary, 46 

Mary (Harris), 62 

Miss ■, 42, 63 

Mourning (Harris), 62 

Rebecca, 278 

Russell, 27 

Sallie (Gentry), 129 

Suckey, 46 

Susanna, 
Johnston, Absalom, 90 
Jordan, John M., 23 

Mary, 138 

Susan A. (Gentry), 138 

Thomas, 286 

William H., 138 
Joyner, Elizabeth, 27 

Judith, 40 

Philip, 27, 40, 69, 135 
Jouett, John, 61 

Mourning (Harris), 61 
Julivan, Benjamin, 250 

Eliza (Gentry), 250 

Edwin Festelan, 250 

Frances Ann, 250 

Ira J., 250 

Maria Hortin, 250 

Martha Polland, 250 

Susan P., 250 

Thomas P., 250 

William W., 250 



Karnes, John Lathrop, 107 

J. V. C, Mrs., 306 

Joseph V. C., 107 

Josephine, 107 

Mary Ann (Crumbaugh), 107 
Keas, Addie M. (Gentry), 192 

Alfred M., 192 
Kellogg, John, Capt., 220 
Kelly, Manuel, 128 

Mary F. (Gentry), 128 
Kendrick, Jane, 64 
Kenna, John E., 249 

Kate, 248 
Kenote, Henry, 38 

Polly, 38 
Kensell, A. H., 143 

Julia E. (Gentry), 143 

Kent, Miss , 45 

Kerley, Green, 52, 109 

Sallie (Hawkins), 52 

Sarah (Hawkins), 109 
Kidd, Major P., 215 

Nannie M. (Gentry), 215 
Kikendall, Samuel, 122 
Kindred, Cyntha, 128 

Elizabeth, 127 

Elizabeth (Haggard), 238 

Jane, 126 

Lucinda, 127 

Mary, 128 

Mary (Haggard), 238 

Ned, 238 
King, Barbara, 204 

Lucy, 283 

Miss , 133 

William, 183 
Kirk, Lewis, Mrs., 129 
Kirkbride, George, 63 
Knight, Ann, 247 

Jonathan, 101 
Krepper, Clara, 142 

Lackey, Hannah, 144 

Lacy, Benjamin T., Mrs., 293 

Lake, Lucy, 49 

Shelton F., 49 
Lamb, Fannie (Gentry), 125 

Thomas, 125 
Lampson, Mary J., Mrs., 124 
Lancaster, Eleanor, 64 

Launcelot, 64 



INDEX 



395 



Lancy, Nancy (Gentry), 73 
Lane, Sallie, Mrs., 80 
Languermare, Frances de, 222 
Lasly, Francis, 250 

Harriett, 250 

James, 250 

John, 250 

Joseph, 250, 253 

Mariah, 250 

Nancy (Gentry), 250, 253 

Rebecca, 250 
Lawrence, Rosa (Thorn), 70 
Layton, Anne, 63 
Lee, Frances E., 39 
Lenoir, W. T., Dr., 100 
Leonard, Abiel, 148 
Level, Elizabeth, no 
Lewen, Harriet, 297 
Lewis, Addie F. (Gentry), 195 

Edwin, 195 

G. W., 195 

George F., 195 

John, 156 

Robert W., 
Lincoln, Abraham, 12 
Lingo, Archibald, 43 

Martha, 43 
Lillard, Fanny, 56 
Lilley, Harriet, 85 
Lipscomb, Eliza (Oldham), 46 

Elizabeth, 46 

Dabney, 46 

Dorothy (Crumbaugh), 46, 107 

Grace Dorothy, 107 

Henrietta (Harris), 46 

Henry Crumbaugh, 107 

J. H., 46 

J. Harris, 107 

Joel, 46 

Josepn Karnes, 107 

Josiah, 46 

Louisa, 46 

Mary (Haggard), 46 

Mary (Jones), 46 

Nancy, 46 

Nathan, 46, 107 

Pattie, 46 

Polly (Gentry), 46 

Susan, 46 

Susan (Simpson), 46 

Thornton C., 107, 248 



Lipscomb, Thomas, Dr., 290 

Wdliam S., 46 
Littell, Maggie, 122 
Little, Howe Gentry, 47 
Littlepage, Sarah, 271 

Loree, Miss , 67 

Lovejoy, Emma L. (Gentry), 201 
Lovell, Nancy (Gentry), 285 
Lowery, John T., 148 
Lucas, Letitia May, 199 
Lux, Bettie, 130 
Lynch, Annie, 117 

H. J., 319 

Jennie (Parish), 117, 319 

Owen P., 117 

Walter, 117 
Lynn, Ann, 144 
Lyon, Eliza Jane (Gentry), 259 

Polly (Gentry), 46 

Thomas, 28 
Lyons, Miss , 47 

McCarthy, Josephine (Smith), 117 

Mary, 75 
McCord, Agnes, 62, 64, 228 
McCoy, Ella (Bush), 54, 319 

Hamilton, 54 

Harriet, 54, 319 

Julia, 54 

Rose, 54 
McDowell, Martha Hawkins, 109 

Samuel, 109 
McFarland, Elizabeth, 202 

Selma, 202 
McGork, Sarah, 40, 41, 
McKeen, Abbie, 203 
McKinzie, Sarah, 166 
McMahan, Bell, 93 

David, 93 

Charles G., 93 

Cora, 93 

Myrtle, 93 

Thomas G., 93 

Susan (Means), 93 
McRobards, Ann M. (Gentry), 118 

John M., 118 
Magoon, Mary Alice (Gentry), 

201 
Major, Ann Redd, 160, 162 

John, 162 

Lewis Redd, 160, 162 



396 



INDEX 



Manhorter, J. M., 194 

Mary B. (Gentry), 194 
Mann, Elizabeth, 205 

Nancy, 205 

Nina McDonald, 233 
Mans, Laura B., 207 

R. T., 207 

Susan T., 207 
Mansfield, Franklin M., 209 

Mary, 209 
Markland, William, 264 

Levi, 264 

Lucy (Gentry), 264 

Mathew, 124, 264 

Nancy, 264 
Marks, Thomas, 280 

Polly, 279 
Marshall, Ann, 222 

Markham, 222 
Martin, Almira K., 229 

Elizabeth, 38 

David, 38, 357 

David Gentry, 319 

James, 37, 62 

John, 38 

Juliet Esther, 79 

Lucy, 38 

Mary, 38, 4 S 

Mary (Barnett), 38 

Minerva, 38 

Nancy, 38 

Onie, 38 

Richard Gentry, 38 

Samiramus, 38 

Sarah, 37, 38 

Sarah (Harris), 62 

Susanna, 38 

Winifred, 37 

Winifred Gentry, 45 

William, 37 
Mather, George, 91 

Grace, 91 

Guy, 91 

Mary (Ramey), 91 

Ralph, 91 

Richard, Rev., 91 

Ruth, 90 
Mathews, David, 90 

Isabel (Priestly), 90 

John M., 252 



Mathews, Minerva J. (Gentry), 

252 
Maupin, Alice, 92 

Betsie, 44 

Catherine (Meadows), 92 

Daniel, 44, 45, 61, 91 

David B., 92 

Delilah, 45 

Elizabeth, 45, 92, 165 

Elizabeth (Smith), 92 

Emma, 92 

Fannie, 45 

Gabriel, 45 

Garland, 38, 45 

Gentry, 45 

Harrison, 92 

James, 45, 92 

Joel, 45 

John, 35, 45, 61 

John, Jr., 61 

Lilburn, 45 

Lizzie (Davidson), 92 

Lucy (Bradley), 92 

Margaret, 62, 92 

Mary, 38, 92 

Mary Frances, 92 

Mary (Martin), 45 

Mary Spencer, 45 

Martha (Gentry), 45 

Martin, 45 

Michie, 92 

Nimrod, 45 

Richard T., 92 

Sallie, 165 

Susan (Stone), 92 

Talitha, 45 

Thomas R., 92 

Patrick, 92 

Patsie, 45 ^ 

Pollie, 45 

Polly, 45 

Verona, 92 

William, 61, 92 
Maxwell, James, 36 

Jane, 48 

Jane, 36 

Bezaleel, 49 
Meadows, Catherine, 92 
Means, Alvertie, 93 

Barnie J., 93 



INDEX 



397 



Means, Charles C, 93 

Charles Granderson, 93 

Charles H., 93 

Clay Farris, 93 

Elizabeth G., 93 

Fannie (Weakley), 93 

Isabella, 222 

James, 93 

James Richard, 92 

Jane, 91 

Lulu (Hausman), 93 

Martha Jane, 93 

Melissa, 93 

Melissa Jane (Bivens), 93 

Michie, 93 

Nancy Eliza, 93 

Nancy Harris, 92 

Sarah Frances, 93 

Susan Matilda, 93 

Susan (Vaughn), 93 

Thomas J., 93 

Thomas Jefferson, 93 

Verlinda (Gillam), 92 

Viola, 93 

William, 92 

William Robert, 93 

William Walker, 93 
Medlock, Ida A., (Gentry), 204 

Lucius, 204 

Mendenhall, Miss , 173 

Millard, Charlton C, 107 

Grace (Lipscomb), 107 
Miller, Alzira, 144 

Amanda (Gentry), 274 

Amelia, 205 

Ann (Lynn), 144 

Doris, 271 

Gertrude I. (Gentry), 208 

Hannah (Lackey), 144 

Jane (Dulaney), 144 

John, Capt., 50 

John, Col., 144 

Margurett, 208 

Maria, 200 

Mary, 281 

Nancy, 83 

Robert, 144 

Susan, 251 

W. T., 208 

William, 144, 274 
Mills, Anna E., 195 



Mills, Nellie, 200 
Mitchell, Ann, 53 

Anna M. (Gentry), 140 

Ella, 283 

G. W., 123 

George W., 207 

Georgia, 123 

Jenny (Gentry), 123 

Parmelia, 207 

T., 140 
Moberly, Nancy, 46 

T. S., Dr., 46 

Thomas Shelton, 46, 61 
Montgomery, Eliza, 270 
Moody, Dilema, 137 
Moon, William, 42 
Moore, Amanda F., 112 

Allie, 119 

Elisha, 112 

James, 153 

James Christy, 112 

Laura (White), 112 

Lucy Ann, 112 

Nancy, 84 

Nancy Jane (Gentry), 112 
Morgan, Ann, Eliza, 49 

John, 252 

Jacob, 49 

Mary Ann (Gentry), 252 

Nannie B. (Gentry), 263 

Will R., 263 
Morris, Hattie C, 190 
Morrison, Eliza J. (Gentry), 155 

Frank, 155 

Harry, 155 

Hattie, 155 

Mary, 155 

Singleton M., 155 

William, 155 
Morrow, Emma L., 201 

Nancy (Gentry), 261 
Morse, C. R, Col, 218 
Moryson, Col. Francis. 15 
Mothershead, Anna (Gentry), 130 
Mourning, Cynthia, 125 
Mullin, Frances, 208 
Mullins, Abbie J., 47 

Anthony, 47 

Connerly, 61 

Dorothy, 47 

Moses Gentry, 47 



398 



INDEX 



Mullins, Nancy, 75 

Murror, Elizabeth, 40, 41 

Music, Winnie, 75 

Myers, Annie (Parish), 117, 319 

Janie, 117 

Joseph, 117 

Orpha (Gentry), 202 

Smith, 117 

William E., 117 

Naylor, Frances V., 247 

Neal, Anna H., 195 

Neely, Ophelia (Gentry), 67 

R. V., 267 
Neil, Catharine, 180 

Jerry H., 180 

Polly C. (Sharp), 180 
Nettleton, George B., 114 
Newell, B. Maude, 193 
Newkirk, Elizabeth, 131 
Newland, Sarah, 80 

William, 80 
Newman, George S., 78 

Mary N., 78 

Paulina, 78 
Nichols, Fannie, 55 
Noble, Elizabeth B. (Pickens), 221 

Alexander, 221 

Caroline (Green), 222, 223 

Edward, 222 

Edward Bonneau, 220, 223 

Helen (Gentry), 220 

John, 221 

Mary Means (Bratton), 222 

Mary (Calhoun), 221 

Patrick, 222, 223 
Nobles, Ann, 23 
Noland, Eva, 54 

John B., 54 

Lavina (Bush), 54 
Norman, Eliza M. (Gentry), 202 

J. P., 202 

Mary, 202 

Missouri, 202 
Norris, Charles, 54 

Ella, 54 

Grant, 54 

John, 54 

Nancy (Elkin), 54, 319 

Oliver, 54 

Younger, 54 
Nourse, Viola Seward, 263 



Nunn, Mary, 266 
Nutt, Binie, 174 

O'Connor, Harmon Anderson, 282 

Eliza Ann, 282 
Odeweal, Matilda, 297 
Ogg, Polly, 23, 245 

Peggy, 23, 245 
Offield, Alzira Boone (Gentry), 
164 

Gentry, 164 

James Madison, 164 
Oldham, Ann, 62 

Eliza, 46 

Elizabeth, 62 

Mary F., 319 

Mary F. (Ferrill), 117 

Nancy, 62 

Richard, 62 

W. D., 117 
O'Neal, Jennie, 280 
Orr, Elizabeth (Breckenridge), 172 

Juliette Willoughby, 172 

Patrick, 172 
Osborne, Mary, 38 
Overton, Robert, Col., 60 

Temperance, 60, 64, 228 

William, 60, 228 
Owens, Burt, 92 

Frank, 92 

Margaret (Maupin), 92 

Mary (Maupin), 92 

Or en, 90 

Sarah L. (Ramey), 90 

Pabody, Aaron, 236 

Amelia, 237 

Elizabeth (Alden), 236 

Elizabeth (Briggs), 236 

Ezra, 236 

Ezra Fitch. 237 

Joseph, 236 

Judith, 236 

Mable (Butler), 237 

Sarah (Sweeland), 236 

William, 236 
Pace, Lydia, 169 
Padgett, Ann, 272 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 272 

Gracey Ann, 276 

Lewis, 23, 272 

Louisa (Gentry), 276 



INDEX 



399 



Page, John, Col, 16, 25 

Polly (Gentry), 72 
Paine, Nancy, 79 
Parish, A. T., 117 

Annie, 117 

Annie (Tourence), 118 

Armor Tribble, 319 

Bettie, 117 

Bettie (White), 117 

Clara (Pellion), 117 

Fountain, 117 

Jennie, 117 

John W., 117, 319 

Mary, 117 

Mary Boone, 117, 319 

Mary F. (Gentry), 117 

Mary (Sutton), 117 

Nannie, 117 

Olive (Doves), 118 

Owen, 117 

Owen C, 117 

Pattie, 118 

Peter, 117 

Peter G., 219 

Peyton E., 118, 319 

Sallie, 117 

Squire, 118 

William, 117 
Park, Druella, 128 

John, 20 

Obednigo, 126 

Spicey (Gentry), 126 
Parker, Oliver, 101 
Parkhurst, Ella, 143 
Parks, Cynthia (Gentry), 274 

Green, yy 

James H., 274 

Miss , yy 

Samuel, 59 

Susan, yy 
Parrott, John, 42 
Patterson, Thomas, 38 
Paybody, Isabel, 236 

John, 236 
Payne, Mary Lee, 230 
Paxton, Edward Nichols, 170 

Elisha Franklin, Gen., 170 

Elizabeth, 171 

Frank, 171 

John G. 170 

Mary, 171 

Mary (Gentry), 170, 322 



Paxton, Mathew White, 170 

Peabodie, William, 236 

Pearl, Polly, 176 

Peery, J. W., 188 

Pellion, Clara, 117 

Pendery, Rose Gentry, 263 

Pennington, Fannie, 319 

Penny, Agnes, 91 

Pentoff, Addie May (Gentry), 113 

Pepper, Kelton Lyon, Lieut., 233 

Mary Bell (Gentry), 233 

Nina Catherine, 233 
Perkins, Nathaniel, 74 
Peyton, Sir Robert, 103 
Phelps, John S., 160 
Phillips, Clay, 92 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 129 

Mary Frances (Maupin), 92 

William, 129 
Pickens, Andrew, Gen., 221, 223 

Elizabeth (Bonneau), 221 

Elizabeth Bonneau, 221 

Ezekiel, 221, 223 

Joseph, 223 

Rebecca, 222 

Rebecca (Calhoun), 221 
Piersal, Anna H. (Gentry), 191 

David, 191 

Mary, 191 

Virginia Bell, 191 
Pitman, Dorothy P. (Robinson), 
in 

John 
Plunket, Adolphus, 286 

Maggie (Gentry), 286 
Plummer, Amanda (Gentry), 274 

James, 2y^ 

Sarah (Gentry), 273 

John, 274 

Nancy, 273 
Pofford, Jennie, 252 

Sam, 251 

Sarah H. (Burch), 251 
Poindexter, David, 283 

John, 283 
Porter, Mary Margaret, 74 

Theodosia, 283, 338 
Pratt. C. W.. 202 

Eleanor (Gentry), 202 
Prewitt, Mattie, 216 

Moss, 101, 148 
Price, Fanny, 278 



400 



INDEX 



Priestly, Elizabeth (Ramey), 90 

Isabel J., 90 

John H., 90 

Mary P., 90 

Sarah E., 90 
Pritchett, Charles E., 76 

Jennie, 76 
Pugh, David, 286 

Emeline Davis, 224 

Elizabeth T. (Gentry), 286 

Frank, 286 

James, 286 

Theophilus, 286 

Mary Susan, 286 

Quisenbury, Mary, 82 

Radford, Mary (Gentry), 281 
Rainey, Bell (Gentry), 118 

Russell, 118 
Ralph, Robert, 118 

Ruby, 123 

Sallie (Gentry), 123 
Ramey, Agnes (Penny), 91 

Alice (Chatham), 91 

Alzira Jane, 91 

Ann Elyza, 91 

Daniel, 154 

David, 89 

Eddie, 91 

Elizabeth, 90, 91 

Elizabeth (Elliott), 91 

Ida, 91 

James, 89 

Jane, 91 

Jane Harris, 89, 90 

Jane (Means), 91 

Josephine, 91 

Mary, 91 

Mortillus E., 91 

Mortillus, Jr., 91 

Reuben G., 91 

Richard G., 91 

Sarah L., 90 

Thomas, 91 
Ramsey, Hepsahitt, (Gentry), 129 

James M., 129 
Ratcliff, Jemima (Scales), 285 
Rather, Harriet (Lewen), 297 

James, 297 

Mary Frances, 297 
Reavis, Henry, 83 



Rector, W. V., 148 
Redmon, Evodia, 190 

Hattie M. (Gentry), 190 

John R., 190 
Redd, Ann, 160 

Elizabeth, 162 
Reed, Mary F., 262 
Reeks, Nicholas, 177 

Susanna (Wyatt), 177 
Reeves, Benjamin H., 148 

Mary, 273 

Rebecca, 274 
Reid, Lucinda, 118 
Renfro, Louisa Jane, 282 
Reynolds, Emily (Gentry), 273 

George W., 273 

Leah M., 115 

Theresa (Gentry), 273 

Thomas, 273 
Rhinehart, Betsie, 71 
Rice, Mary, 60, 228 
Richardson, David, 283 

Catherine, 205 

James, 272 

Mary (Gentry), 272 
Rieck, Sallie (Elliott), 91 

William, 91 
Rigons, Rebecca, 259 
Riley, Nancy E., 261 
Rinehart, Betsie, 25 
Ring, Dicey (Gentry), 131 

William, 131 
Roberts, Emma, 231 

John, 28 

Sallie, 79 

William, 185 
Robertson, James, 17, 331 

James H., 39 

Martha, 222 

Minnie, 39 

Philip, 39 

Ann, 103, 109, in, 227 

Dorothy Peyton, 11 1, 227 

Fanny, 56, 319 

Fanny (Lillard), 56 

Frank Gentry, 56, 319, 3 2 i 

Jane (Bush), 55 

Jerry, 55 

John, 63 

Lillard, 56 

Margaret, 165 

Patricia, 56 



INDEX 



401 



Robertson, Pet L., 319 

Sarah (Smith), 103, III, 227 

William, 103, ill, 227 
Rockwell, Sarah, 220 
Rodes, John, Col., 61 

Mary (Crawford), 61 

Sarah (Harris), 61 

Sarah Harris, 61 
Rogers, Mary (Gentry), 285 

Robert, 285 

Ruth, 284, 285 
Rollins, James S., Maj., 167 
Roof, Abbie J., 47 
Rousseau, Adolphus, 273 

Amanda (Gentry), 273 
Rucker, Maranda (Gentry), 128 

Morton, 128 
Ruckett, Mary (Gentry), 205 

Virgil, 205 
Rudasill, Flora Warder, 189 

Lucy N. (Gentry), 189 

Mollie, 189 

Philip H., 189 

Runkle, Miss , 282 

Russell, J. A., Dr., 120 

Nannie (Gentry), 120 
Rust, Emma, 122 
Ryland, John E., 315 

Sabens, Frances (Gentry), 72 
Samuels, Giles M., 148 
Sandridge, Luthana, 248 
Sappington, John, Dr., 287 

Mark Brown, 286 

Rebecca Boyce, 285 

Thomas, Dr., 286 
Sargent, Sallie, 74, 137 
Saunders, Emily, 287 
Savage, Levi, 268 

Lewis, 28 
Scales, Ann, 285 

D. C., 285 

Ellsworth, 285 

James H., 285 

Jemima (Gentry), 285 

Joseph Henry, 285 

Joseph W., Dr., 285 

Mary. 285 

Poindexter, 285 

Robert W., 285 

Sarah, 285 

Theodosia, 285 



Scanlin, Evelyn, 47 

Walter, 47 
Schooler, Nancy, no 
Scoggins, Ann Elizabeth (Gentry), 

69 
Scott, Bina (Gentry), 194 

Dorothy (Hawkins), 109 

Ezekiel, 109 

Frank, 273 

J. M., 200 

John, 123, 194 

Maggie (Gentry), 200 

Nancy (Gentry), 273 

Patsie (Gentry), 123 
Seaborne, John, 42 
Seahorn, John, 25 
Seargent, Sallie, 23 
See, Elizabeth, 175 
Seibert, Lucinda B. (Gentry), 192 

Mary, 192 

William, 192 
Sevier, John, 331 
Seward, Benjamin, 285 

Elsie (Gentry), 263 

Martin Gentry, 263 

Samuel, 263 

Sarah (Scales), 285 
Shannon, J. R., 197 

Julia (Gentry), 197 
Sharp Attossa Pinckney, 173, 179, 
180, 226 

Benjamin, 180, 183 

Benjamin F., 180 

Benjamin, Maj., 167, 173, 179, 
180, 226, 333, 357 

Catharine E., 180 

Catharine (Neil), 180 

David, 183 

Delila (Gentry), 283 

Elvira, E., 180 

Fidellio C, 184 

Hannah D., 180 

Hannah (Fulkerson), 179, 185, 
227 

Harriett (Vance), 180 

Jacob L, 180 

James F., 180 

Jane (Johnson), 180 

John D., 180, 183, 184, 283 

Malinda M., 180 

Margaret J., 180 

Peter L., 180 



402 



INDEX 



Sharp, Polly G, 180 

Samuel T., 180 

Solomon P., 184 

Thomas, 183, 227 

Thomas, Jr., 183, 184 
Shelby, Evan, Capt., 182, 183 

Isaac, 94, 182 
Shelton, Allouise (Douglas), 164 

Caroline, 164 

Emily (Connally), 163 

Harry Hill, 164 

Jane Redd (Gentry), 90, 162 163, 
299, 300, 319 

Lillian O. (Hill), 164 

Lillian S. (Cobb), 164 

Lucy (Harris), 61 

Molly, 41 

Paulina, 204 

Richard, 59 

Richard Theodore, 163 

Theodore, 59, 163 

Vardi Benson, 163 

William, 61 

William Gentry, 164 

William Gentry, Jr., 164 
Sheppard, Mary, 238 
Shields, Fannie A., 54 
Shiplet, Andelusia (Gentry), y$ 
Shipp, Craig, 316 

H. C, 117, 319 

Jennie (Ferrill), 117 
Short, Martha A. (Gentry), 201 
Shrives, Jane, 253 
Shupert, H. G., 139 

Harriett (Gentry), 139 
Shy, Conger, 123 

Mary E. (Gentry), 123 

Stanwood, 123 

Sullivan, 123 
Simmons, Catherine (Hawkins), 
109 

Charles, 109 

Eliza, 109 

Margaret, 109 

Mary, 109 

Nancy (Gentry), 244 

Robinson, 109 

William, 109 
Simms, Alice, 59 

Edward Francis, 59 

Lucy (Alexander), 59 

Lucy Ann (Blythe), 59 



Simms, Lucy Blythe, 59 

William E., 59 
Simpson, Duke W., 46 

Louisa, 46 

Susan, 46 
Sims, Elias, 38 

Elizabeth, 38 

Lucy, 36 

William, 38 
Sinclair, Catharine (Wyatt), 173 
Skinner, Ann Gentry, 164 

Ann R., 319 

Bettie S. (Gentry), 59, 164, 319 

Harry Duke, 164, 319 

John R., 164 

John Reuben, 164 
Smart, America (Gentry), 68 

Buckner, 68 
Smiley, Jane, 266 
Smith, Amelia (Pabody), 237 

Ann, 103 

Benjamin, 117, 196 

David Thomas, Dr., 39, 321 

Elizabeth, 92, 117 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 272 

Ella (Gentry), 215 

G. W., 39 

George C, 161 

George R., Gen., 162 

Grace, 237 

James, 272 

Jane (Gentry), 54, 59, 11; 

Joseph Bennett, 237 

Josephine, 117 

Lawrence, Maj., 104 

Martha Jane, 196 

Mary, 134, 175 

Matilda, 117, 296 

Mattie Lee, 231 

Peyton, 103, ill, 227 

Robert, 104, 11 1 

Robert H., 215 

Samuel W., 289 

Sarah, 103, ill, 227 

Sarah (Gentry), 39 

Sir John, 104 

Sir Thomas, 104 

T. A., 148 

Tilly, 54 

Washington, 39 

William, 54, 117 
Snow, Clementine, 267 



INDEX 



403 



Snyder, America (Tuck), 94 

Eliza M., 269 
Solomon, Anna Bell (Durrell), 91 

Charles, 91 

Somers, Mary, 137 
Sowell, Annie (Gentry), 43 

Benjamin, 43 

Elizabeth Jane (Gentry), 73 

Elizabeth (Maupin), 43 

L-, 73 
Spanger, Matilda, 263 
Sparks, Sarah, 272 
Spear, Flora, 207 
Speer, Henry, 28, 268 
Spencer, Earl, 45 
Spisa, Jemima, 259 

William, 357 
Spratt, Martha, 266 
Stafford, Elliot, 155 

Hattie (Morrison), 155 
Stephenson, Jane, 92 

Mary, no 

Myrtle, 191 

William, 92 
Stone, James, Clifton, 57 

R. S., 218 

John Harris, 57 

Nannie Rodes, 57 

Pattie (Harris), 57 

Samuel H., Col., 57 

Samuel Hanson, Jr., 57 

Susan, 92 

William Harris, 57 

William J., 171 
Stribling, N. A., Miss, 140 

Kate, 141 
Stringer, Eliza, 130 

Eliza (Gentry), 130 

David, 130 

James, 130 

Julia, 130 

Lemuel T., 130, 319 

Nicholas, 130 

Rispy, 130 

Sarah, 129 

William. 130 
Strock, G .G., 188 
Stultz, Gillie (Gentry"), 131 

Joseph, 131 
Sturgis, Sallie B. (Gentry), 213 

Thomas J., 21."? 
Sullivan, John, Col., 114 



Summers, Moses, 181 

Sutton, Mary, 117 

Sweeland, Sarah, 236 

Switzler, William F., Col., 100, 148 

Sydney, Lady Dorothy, 104 

Symes, William, 22 

Tarlton, Claude C, 116 

Mary Lucy (Glascock), 116 
Tate, Frances (Gentry), 243 

Nathaniel, 243 
Taylor, Miss , 123 

Col. Zacheny, 18, 96 
Terhune, Charles, 122 

Dalton, 122 

Harriet S. (Gentry), 122, 319 

Hattie, 122 

J. H, 122 

William V., 122 
Thatcher, Martha, 279 
Thomas, Athenasius, 38 

Elizabeth, 247 

M. A., Mrs., 140 

Rhoda, 270 

Sarah, 38 

Sudema, 276 

Susan, 75 
Thompson, Eva (Gentry), 70 

David, Gen., 162 

Milton, 88 

Nancy, 75 

Thorn, Sallie (Green), 70 
Thornton, Miss , 234 

Laura (Gentry), 275 
Thrall, Erastus, 108 

Martha (Gentry), 108 

Richard Perry, 108 
Thrasher, Eliza, 252 

Joseph W., 251 

Marie E. (Burch), 251 

Thurman, Miss , 72 

Tilley, Jane, 124 
Timberlake, Betsie, 76 

Jane, 33, 34 

Mary, 44 

Philip, 44 
Tindall. Cordell, 172 

Elizabeth Winifred, 172 

Fielding, Wilhite, 172 

James, 172 

James H., 172 

Jemima (Everett), 172 



404 



INDEX 



Tindall, Josiah, 172 

Judith Ann, 172 

Juliette W. (Orr), 172 

Lucy W. (Gentry), 171 

Noah, 172 

Obedia, 172 

Obedia, Jr., 172 

Patrick Orr, 172 

Richard Gentry, 171 

Robert, 172 

Thomas, 172 

William, 172 

Willoughby Cordell, 171, 172 

Winifred (Horn), 172 
Toalson, Lucy, 82 
Todd, David, 148 

Mary, 186, 230 

Rodger North, 186 

Sarah, 53 
Tooley, Elizabeth, 43, 72 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 72 
Tomasson, Harriet F. (Gentry), 

280 
Torson, James, 113 

Mary (Gentry), 113 

Mattie, 113 

O. C, 113 

Ole, 113 
Tourence, Annie, 118 
Tracey, Laura Bell, 44 
Trader, John W., Dr., 174, 226, 

359 

Lucy A. (Wyatt), 174 
Tribble, Elizabeth, 116 

Peter, Rev., 116, 196, 197 
Tuck, America, 94 

James K. Polk, 94 

John, 94 

Joseph, 94 

Martha, 94 

Thomas, 94 

Wallace, 94 
Turner, Mary N., 78 

Sarah (Gentry), 272 

William, 272 
Tussey, Ella, 213 
Tyler, Lyon, 177 

Sarah, 21 
Tylre, Sarah, 27S 
Tyree, Rebecca, 278 

Umbarger, Frances, 254 



Uptegram, Isaac, 28 

Vail, Ansin Rogers, 270 

Lavinia R. (Gentry), 276 
Vanarsdall, Henry 120 

Nancy E. (Gentry), 120 
Vance, Harriett, 180 

Or ma, 82 
Vanderbilt, George W., 215 
Vandiver, Martha (Gentry), 72 
Van Hook, Mary, 185, 227 
Van Meter, Mary, 297 
Vauden, Sarah J., 210 
Vaughn, Annie E., 80 

Elizabeth, 252, 253 

Harrison C, Dr., 80 

James H., 80 

Ollie P., 80 

Sallie A, 80 

Susan A., 93, 251 

William H., 80 

William M., 80 
Venable, Harry, 22 
Vest, George C., 145 
Via, Henry, 246 

Margaret, 45 

Polly (Gentry), 246 

Waddell, Elizabeth, 258 
Walburn, Albert Woods, 147 
Wagers, Armilda, 126 

Coleman B., 126 

James Lewis, 126 

John Thomas, 126 

Martha (Gentry), 126 

Mary E., 126 

Owen G., 126 

Simpson, 126 
Walburn, Gentry C., 147 

Mary Virginia (Gentry), 147 

Nannie V., 147 
Waldo, Calvin, 297 

Carrinne (Abercrombie), 297 

Cora, 207 

Elizabeth Elliott, 207 

Gentry, 297 

Gentry Chilton, 297 

Jedediah. 297 

Lula, 297 

Mary, 297 

Mary V. (Gentry), 297 

Matilda (Odeneal), 297 



INDEX 



405 



Waldo, Virginia, 297 

Wilmer, 297 
Wales, Lucy, 167 
Walker, Cecelia, 109 

John R., 146 

Mirand Catherine, 232 
Wallard, Narcissa, 166 
Waller, Mary S. (Gentry), 206 

R. L., 206 
Walters, Joanna, 37 

Joseph, 37 

Nancy (Gentry), 243, 245 

Patsie (Gentry), 243, 246 

Thomas J., 91 
Walton, Alzira (Ramey), 91 

Edward, 243 

Gehugh, 243 

Jesse, 245, 246 
Warren, Winslow, 218 
Washington, Augustine, 222 

George, Gen., 222 

Mildred, 222 
Watkins, Albert G., 289 
Watson, John M., Dr., 285 

Julia, 115 

Sarah, 43 

Tabitha (Gentry), 285 
Waugh, Emeline (Gentry), 273 

Nathan, 273 
Weakley, Bell (McMahan), 93 

Fannie, 93 

Orin, 93 
Webster, Elizabeth, 261 

Kittie, 261 

Matilda, 120 
Wellman, Matthew, 21 
West, Mary E, 280 

Peggy (Gentry), 125 

Rachel, 25, 40 
Wheeler, Boone (Gentry), 295 

Louis, 295 
White, Bettie, 117 

C. J., 199 

Churchill, 199 

Dicey (Gentry), 246 

Durrett, 56 

Elizabeth, 86 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 199 

Garrett, 246 

Henry, 86 

Jane Harris (Gentry), 56 

Joel, 86 



White, John R., Col., 86 

Joseph, 82 

Laura, 112 

Lou, 82 

Nancy Jane, 56, 62 

Richard J., 56 

Valentine, 56 

Wm. H., 56 
Whitmore, Agnes (Gentry), 256 

Caroline, 275 
Whitlock, Betsie Major, 25 

Euclid, 24 

Jean, 25 

Jesse, 25 

William, 24, 25 
Whittaker, Caroline M., 188 
Whyte, Annie, 232 

E., 232 
Wiles, Elizabeth, 298 
Wilhite, Jessie, 119 
Wilhoit, Andrew, 125 

Jane (Gentry), 125 
Wilkenson, Cordie, 271 
Wilkerson, Nancy, 62 
Williams, A. J., 148 

C. H., 289 

Molly, 286 

Sue, 286 
Willis, Ann, 222 

Henry, Col., 222 

Mildred (Washington), 222 
Willoughby, Elizabeth, 172 
Wilson, Alice (Maupin), 92 

Elizabeth (Ramey), 91 

John, 92 

Polly, 77 

Sophia, 82 

Theodore, 82 

Thomas, 91 
Wingfield, Francis, 73 

Mary, 73 
Winn, Elizabeth (Gentry), 266 

Wilson, 266 
Witcher, Evelyn, 160 
Witherow, Baretta E. (Gentry), 
276 

Fountain B., 276 
Witt, P., 25 
Wood, Jennie, 210 

Mabel, 31 

Mable, 20 

Miss , 118 



406 



INDEX 



Wood, Rufus, 273 

Sarah (Gentry), 273 
Woodford, Lelia (Bush), 55 

Sarah, 76 

William G., 118 
Woodson, Job, 27 

John, 40 

Susan J., 83 

Woolery, Alvin P., 189 

Lucy N. (Gentry), 189 
Worley, Charles, 297 

Cora Nina (Gentry), 297 

Gentry, 297 

N. H., 297 

N. H., 297 
Wright, A. S., 271 

Elizabeth (Gentry), 271 

Mary, 74 

Paulina, 253 
Wyat, Sir Francis, 64 

Thomas, Capt., 63 
Wyatt, Adam, 177 

Amanda, 175 

Anthony, 175, 177, 226 

Attossa Pinckney (Sharp), 173, 
226 

Betsy, 176 

Binie (Mathews), 174 

Catharine, 173 

Douglass, 175 

Douglass, Jr., 175 

Edward, 177 

Elizabeth (See), 175 

Emily, 175 

Ethel Rice, 174 

Francis, 177 

Frank, 173, 175, 176, 226, 357 

Frank, Jr., 176 

Geoffrey, 178 

George, 178 

Harriet, 167, 173 

Haute, Rev., 176 

Hayden, 175 

Henry S., 175 



Wyatt, Henry Wolcut, 174 

James W., 175 

John, 175, 176, 177, 181, 226, 357 

John, Capt., 167, 173, 175, 176, 
180, 224, 226, 358 

John, Jr., 174 

John James, 174 

Joseph, 175 

Laura (Gentry), 205 

Lucy A., 174 

Malinda, 176 

Margaret J., 173 

Martha A., 175 

Mary, 175, 224 

Mary Neil, 167, 173 

Mary (Smith), 175 

Nancy, 176 

Nancy J., 175 

Nicholas, 177 

Polly, 176 

Polly Elizabeth, 176 

Polly (Pearl), 176 

Ralph, 177 

Richard, 177, 178 

Ricks, 176 

Sally, 175 

Sarah H., 173 

Sir Francis, 176, 178 

Sir Henry, 178, 226 

Sir Thomas, 177, 178, 226 

Susanna, 177 

William, 175, 176, 178 

William, Maj., 177 

William S., 176 
Wyley, Susanna, 103 



Yokum, Miss , 92 

Young, Charles A., 168 

Eliza (Gentry), 168 

Harriet Addams, 168 

Martha, 210 

Nathan, 168 
Youngblood, Ida, 123 

Zollicoffer, Felix H, Gen., 288 



Errata. 

Page 34, 3rd line from end. For " to value," read " do 
value." 

Page 85, 3rd line from end. For " Sylvester L.", read " Syl- 
vester S." 

Page 89, 9th line. For " Jock." read " Jack." 

Page 143, 20th line. For " Sylvester L.", read " Sylvester S." 

Page 250, 20th line. For " Benjamin Julivan" read " Ben- 
jamin Sulivan." 

Page 257. After first line read omitted line as follows : 
" Shadrack Gentry, Meshack Gentry, Obednigo Gentry, Agnes 
Whitcomb and Mary Buchanan." 

Page 373 (index), 2nd line from end, first column. Read 
" Dowsinge, Everard, 23." 

Page 394 (index). For "Julivan," read "Sulivan." 

Page 400 (index). After "Robertson, Philip," read "Rob- 
inson." The names beginning with " Ann " and ending with 
"William" on (page 401) are all "Robinsons." 



* * * 



ADDENDA 

C;[o mpiled By 

William Richard Gentry, Jr. 

St. Louis, Missouri 

19 3 7 



* * * 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

(1788-1837) and Ann Hawkins (1791-1870) 

SEE PAGE 

1. Analyza Gentry (1810-1889) 5 

1 child 

2. Richard Harrison Gentry (1812-1871) . . 6-7-8 

7 children 

3. Oliver Perry Gentry (1814-1881) .... 

no children 

4. Dorothy Ann Gentry (1816-1854) .... 9 

3 children 

5. Jane Gentry (1818-1878) 9-10-11-12 

5 children 

6. Martha Gentry (1823-1844) 12-13 

1 child 

7. Mary Gentry (1825-1893) 13-14 

4 children 

8. Thomas Benton Gentry (1830-1906) ... 14 

2 children 

9. Nicholas Hawkins Gentry (1835-1861) . 

no children 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

DESCENDANTS OF ANALYZA GENTRY (1810-1889) 

and (1) John H. Bryan (2) Robert Elliott 

I. RICHARD GENTRY BRYAN (1838-1921) m. 
(Child by first husband) 

(1) Mollie H. Welch (1842-1866) 

(2) Jennie M. Godfrey (1847-1916) 

A. John R. Bryan (1862-1931) m. Ivy E. Athey (1868) 

(Child by first wife) 

1. Ellsworth V. Bryan (1895) m. Lula M. Butcher (1896) 

Cimarron, Kans. 

a. Ellsworth V. Bryan, Jr. (1921) 

b. Elda L. Bryan (1923) 

c. Yvonne M. Bryan (1929) 

d. Alta J. Bryan (1932) 

2. Mary Z. Bryan (1898) m. Delbert G. Culver (1896) 

Cimarron, Kans. 

a. Donald Lewi9 Culver (1918) 

b. Le Roy B. Culver (1929) 

3. Rose Anna Bryan (1905) m. Cyrus R. Omo (1900) 

Cimarron, Kans. 

a. Raymond E. Omo (1931) 

b. Marilyn L. Omo (1933) 

c. Clifford D. Omo (1936) 

B. Analyza Bryan (1871) m. George W. Golden (1867-1936) 

(Child by second wife) Garland, Kans. 

1. Walter B. Golden (1904) m. Opal Pettiborn 

Garland, Kans. 

a. Audrey E. Golden (1931) 

b. Bernita D. Golden (1934) 

C. Lewin Lewis Bryan (1875) m. Dora Koontz 

(Child by second wife) Bronson, Kans. 

1. Lewis Bryan (1902) Bronson, Kans. 

2. Irene Bryan (1907) m. Wm. Everhardy 

Washington, D. C. 

3. Eleanor Bryan (1909) m. Ray Lantz Salina, Kans. 

a. Margaret A. Lantz (1936) 

D. George Godfrey Bryan (1889) Pittsburg, Kans. 

(Child by second wife) 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

DESCENDANTS OF RICHARD HARRISON GENTRY 

(1812-1871) and Mary Neil Wyatt (1826-1887) 

I. RICHARD GENTRY (1846-1915) m. Susan Emeline Butler 
(1850-1924) Kansas City, Mo. 

A. Elizabeth Butler Gentry (1874-1940) Kansas City, Mo. 

B. Richard Hardin Gentry (1878) m. Jeane Blythe, 

Los Angeles, Calif. 

1. Richard Blythe Gentry (1909) m. Estella Hayden, 

Denver, Colo. 

a. Richard Hayden Gentry (1933) 

b. Donald Blythe Gentry (1935) 

2. Susan Gentry (1911) Los Angeles, Calif. 

3. James Blythe Gentry (1913) m. Frances M. Fisher, 

Los Angeles, Calif. 
a. Blythe Gentry (1938) 

C. Ruth Russell Gentry (1880) m. William H. Bush, 

Chicago, Illinois 

1. Caroline Gentry Bush (1909) m. Fred Latham Emeny 

Cleveland, Ohio 

a. Ruth Bush Emeny (1941) 

2. Ruth Emeline Bush (1910) m. Francis T. O'Brien, 

Lake Forest, 111. 

a. Gwendolyn Bush O'Brien (1937) 

b. Caroline Bush O'Brien (1939) 

D. Mary Gentry (1882) m. Charles Lindmueller, Chicago, 111. 

E. Helen Gentry (1884) m. Edward Bonneau Noble, 

Red Bluff, California 

1. Patrick Gentry Noble (1909) San Francisco, Calif. 

2. Susan Gentry Noble (1911) m. James R. Webb, 

3. Butler Gentry Noble (1913) " Red Bluff,' Calif. 

4. Caroline Gentry Noble (1915) m. Herbert Jenkins, 

Palo Alto, Calif. 

5. Andrew Pickens Noble (1921) Red Bluff, Calif. 

F. Martin Butler Gentry (1886) m. Margaret Tomlinson, 

New Canaan, Conn. 

1. Margaret Gentry (1923) 

2. Martin Butler Gentry, Jr. (1926) 



6 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

II. ATOSA GENTRY (1849-1938) Kansas City, Mo. 

III. ELIZA GENTRY (1852) m. Charles A. Young, 

Kansas City, Mo. 

A. Harriet Addams Young (1886) m. Lawrence A. Brown, 

Boston, Mass. 

1. Lawrence A. Brown, Jr., (1919) 

2. Dorothy Brown (1923) 

B. Nathan Young (1888) m. Doris Howes, Kansas City, Mo. 

IV. SARAH JANE GENTRY (1855) m. Dr. John W. Elston, 

Kansas City, Mo. 

A. Bertha Elston (1878-1940) Kansas City, Mo. 

B. Robert G. Elston (1880-1919) m. (1) Carrie A. Bryan 

(2) Olivia Mercier 
(Child by second wife) 

1. Robert Gentry Elston (1915) m. Lola M. White, 

Tulsa, Okla. 

C. Allan Vaughn Elston (1887) m. Kathleen Chastaine 

Santa Anna, Calif. 

1. Allan V. Elston, Jr., (1920) m. Joann McCandless 

Los Angeles, Calif. 

2. Mageene Elston (1930) 

3. John William Elston (1935) 

D. Margaret Elston (1889) m. Donald Witten 

Alexandria, Virginia 

1. Thomas Witten (1913) 

2. Sarah Witten (1925) 

V. MARY GENTRY (1857-1903) m. John G. Paxton 

Independence, Mo. 

A. Mary Paxton (1886) m. Edmond B. Keeley Columbia, Mo- 
1. John Paxton Keeley (1920) 

B. Frank Paxton (1887) m. Marjorie Lane, Kansas City, Mo. 

1. Frank Paxton, Jr., (1918) 

2. John L. Paxton (1921) 

3. Robert Paxton (1926) 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

C. Elizabeth Paxton (1889) m. (1) Donald W. Ogilbee 

(2) James Forsling, Caspar, Wyo. 

1. Mary Paxton Ogilbee (1918) Manitou Springs, Colo. 

2. Jean Gallatin Ogilbee (1920) Manitou Springs, Colo. 

D. Mathew White Paxton (1891) Kansas City, Mo. 

1. Richard Gentry Paxton Terrell Wells, Texas 

2. John Gallatin Paxton Terrell Wells, Texas 

E. Edward Nichols Paxton (1893-1937) m. Narnie Clardy 

Independence, Mo. 

1. Edward C. Paxton (1916) m. Dorothy Hunter 

a. Narnie Katherine Paxton (1941) 

2. John Gallatin Paxton (1919) m. Jeannette Kruse 

3. William Clardy Paxton (1928) 

VI. OLIVER PERRY GENTRY (1862) m. Almira K. Martin 

A. William Harrison Gentry (1887) m. Grace R. Polk 

Jefferson City, Mo. 

1. Katherine Gentry (1919) 

2. Mary Frances Gentry (1921) 

B. Elston Gentry (1889) m. Wilma C. Moseley 

Jacksonville, Fla. 
1. Joann Gentry (1924) 

VII. LUCY GENTRY (1864) m. (1) W. C. Tindall 

(2) J. S. Ankeny Columbia, Mo. 

A. Richard Gentry Tindall (1892) m. (1) Frances Smith 

(2) Frances Mitchell, Washington, D. C. 

1. Mary Louise Tindall (1916) m. Carl Tietjen 1940 

St. Louis, Mo. 
a. Mary Anne Tietjen (1941) 

2. Richard Gentry Tindall, Jr., (1918) West Point, N. Y. 

3. Helen M. Tindall (1926) 



8 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

DESCENDANTS OF DOROTHY ANN GENTRY (1816-1854) 

and Henry Crumbaugh 

I. MARY ANN CRUMBAUGH (1841) m. Joseph V. C. Karnes 

A. John Lathrop Karnes (P-1934) 

B. Josephine Karnes m. Alfred Gregory Kansas City, Mo. 

1. Joseph V. C. Gregory (1894) m. Marguerite Tidewell 

Kansas City, Mo. 
John M. Gergory m. Judith Hannah Kansas City, Mo. 

C. Mary Gilman Karnes Kansas City, Mo. 

II. LUTHERH. CRUMBAUGH (1849-1914) m. Sally Harbinson 

A. Mary Crumbaugh m. Harry C. Utley Kansas City, Mo. 

B. Leta Dora Crumbaugh m. Sam Rathell Del Mar, Calif. 
1. Ruth Rathell (1908) m. W. H. Tippett Del Mar, Calif. 

C. Andrew J. Crumbaugh m. Amaryllis Walbridge 

Neosho, Mo. 
1. Luther H. Crumbaugh (1918) 

III. DOROTHY ANN CRUMBAUGH (1854) m. 

J. Harris Lipscomb 

A. Joseph K. Lipscomb (1881) m. Ethel Chapman 

Coconut Grove, Fla. 

1. John Harris Lipscomb (1919) 

2. Joseph Karnes Lipscomb, Jr., (1920) 

3. James Chapman Lipscomb (1926) 

B. Grace Dorothy Lipscomb (1884) m. Charlton C. Millard 

Ashville, N. C. 

C. Henry Crumbaugh Lipscomb (1890) m. Marie Yancey 

Washington, D. C. 
1. Nancy Harris Lipscomb 

DESCENDANTS OF JANE GENTRY (1818-1878) 

and Herod W. Hudnall 

I. ANNIE G. HUDNALL (1850-1907) m. Orin A. Wheeler 

(1848-1924) 
A. Richard Wheeler (1871-1894) 



9 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

B. Edith Wheeler (1872) m. Edward Newton 

1. Charlette Newton (1890) m. H. F. Hawley 

Los Angeles, Calif. 

2. Edward Newton (1892) m. (1) Eva Koris 

(2) Helen Pottenger (3) Alice Redondo Los Angeles Calif. 
a. Virginia Eve Newton (Gerber) (1912) 

C. Daisy Wheeler (1876-1896) m. James Stevens 

D. Kate Wheeler (1878) m. Herbert R. Ealy Los Angeles, Calif. 

1. Richard Orrin Ealy (1915) 

2. Grace Minerva Ealy (1918) m. Charles Adair 

Los Angeles, Calif. 

E. Claude Wheeler (1893-1931) m. Eva Thorsen 

Los Angeles, Calif. 

1. Eva Ann Wheeler (1916) 

2. Adele Wheeler (1918) m. Paul Hefferman 

Los Angeles, Calif. 
a. Claudia Ann Hefferman (1938) 

II. PAUL C. HUDNALL (1852-1925) m. Clara Quinn 

A. Gladys Hudnall (1899) m. William Hanson 

Salt Lake City, Utah 

B. Paul Kenneth Hudnall (Brown) (1895-1923) m 

Lena Christenson 
1. Kenneth R. Brown (1917) San Francisco, Calif. 

III. MARY C. HUDNALL (1853-1926) m. William J. Quinn 

(1853) 

A. Jane Gentry Quinn (1878) m. William B. Delventhal, 

B. O. Pauline Quinn (1879) m. Samuel H. Ten Eyck 

Portland, Ore. 
1. Mary Pauline Ten Eyck (1908) m. Alcwyn Jones (1907) 

Portland, Ore. 

C. Hugh D. Quinn (1880) m. Kate Rudor Tigard, Ore. 

1. Mary Gentry Quinn (1916) m Heintz Tigard, Ore. 

2. James Clarence Quinn (1918) Tigard, Ore. 

3. Daniel Hugh Quinn (1926) Tigard, Ore. 

4. Elizabeth Elaine Quinn (1929) Tigard, Ore. 



10 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

D. Laura E. Quinn (1882) m. (1) Leon L. Phillips (1884-1924) 

(2) E. B. Coffin Seattle, Wash. 

1. Gentry L. Phillips (1902) m. Floy Bailey (1904) 

Baker, Ore. 

a. Shirley Anne Phillips (1926) Baker, Ore. 

b. Susan Kay Phillips (1930) Baker, Ore. 

E. Bessie G. Quinn (1883) m. Leon H. MosherTacoma, Wash. 

1. Bayard O. Mosher (1905-1932) m. Edna Wallace 
a. Bayard H. Mosher (1931) Tacoma .Wash. 

F. William D. Quinn (1885-1930) m. Mary E. Baldwin 

Portland, Ore. 

G. Harry M. Quinn (1886) m. Emma Hessmer Seattle, Wash. 

1. Esther D. Quinn (1911) m. (1) Murray A. Ross (P-1934) 

(2) Merritt Wright Seattle, Wash. 

a. Murray D. Ross (1931) Seattle, Wash. 

2. Martha Jane Quinn (1914) m. Loren Smith 

Seattle, Wash. 

3. James B. Quinn (1915) m. Geraldine Greene 

Spittle vv 3.sn 

4. Robert H. Quinn (1921) Seattle! Wash. 

H. Faith Quinn (1892) m. William B. Odom Portland, Ore 

IV. LAURA HUDNALL (1855-1882) m. Charles N. Floyd 

A. Paul P. Floyd (1879) m. Anna J. Brenner (1881) 

Bakersfield, Calif. 

1. Louise Gentry Floyd (1905) m. Arthur L. Weinberg 

Berkeley, Calif. 

a. Arthur L. Weinberg, Jr. (1926) Berkeley, Calif. 

b. Floyd Lee Weinberg (1932) Berkeley, Calif. 

2. Thomas B. Floyd (1914) Bakersfield, Calif 

V. ELIZA J. HUDNALL (1860-1928) m. (1) Albert H. Floyd 

(2) C. W. Eckman 

A. Louis Hudnall Floyd (1881) m. Esther Perkins 

Los Angeles, Calif. 



11 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

1. Esther May Floyd (1913) m. Robert Worthington 

Los Angeles, Calif. 

a. Robert Worthington, Jr. (1935) Los Angeles, Calif. 

B. Lucy Wales Floyd (1884) m. Raymond E. Athey 

Junction City, Kans. 

1. Ruby B. Athey (1907) m. Hugh M. Garvin 

Kansas City, Kans. 

2. Raymond E. Athey (1909) Junction City, Kans. 

C. Mary (Mayme) Clark Floyd (1885) m. Martin G. Forrest 

Seneca, Mo. 

1. George Forrest (1908) Seneca, Mo. 

2. Porter Forrest (1910) Seneca, Mo. 

3. Floyd Forrest (1912) Seneca, Mo. 

4. Edith Forrest (1915) m. Emery L. Jones, Walden, Colo. 

D. Charles Floyd (1889) m. Alice Grieg Osborne, Kans. 

E. Naomi Floyd (1891) Stockton, Kans. 

F. Albert E. Floyd (1896) m. Louise McKnight Prescott, Ariz. 

DESCENDANTS OF MARTHA GENTRY (1823-1844) 

and Erastus Thrall 
I. RICHARD PERRY THRALL (1844-1930) 

A. Lawrence H. Thrall Staunton, Va. 

B. Richard Gentry Thrall m. Mary Jenkins Culpeper, Va. 

1. Leonard H. Thrall (1911) 

a. Joan K. Thrall (1937) Culpeper, Va. 

2. Charles Perry Thrall (1913) Simpsonville, Maryland 

3. Alpha S. Thrall (1915) m. B. F. Jenkins 

R. 1 Grasonville, Md. 

a. Richard Gentry Jenkins (1932) Gransonville, Md. 

b. Man' Elizabeth Jenkins (1934) Gransonville, Md. 

c. Alpha S. Jenkins (1937) Grasonville, Md. 

4. Gentry Harrison Thrall (1918) Belcoir, Va. 

5. Mary L. Thrall (1920) Korea, Va. 

6. Hattie M. Thrall (1922) 

7. Mildred E. Thrall (1925) Culpeper, Va. 

8. Thomas W. Thrall (1927) Culpeper, Va. 



12 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

C. Oliver Perry Thrall (1888) m. Sallie G. Elliott 

Williamsburg, Va. 

1. Richard Thrall (1924) Williamsburg, Va. 

2. William Thrall (1928) Williamsburg, Va. 

3. Barbara Belle 

D. Rosie Thrall (?-1928) m. French Vaughn 

Williamsburg, Va. 

1. James Vaughn 

2. Anna M. Vaughn m. William Hawkins Culpeper, Va. 

E. Elizabeth Thrall, m. William McFarland 

1. Louisa McFarland m. Geroon Odaker Culpeper, Va. 

2. Eleanor McFarland m. J. L. Leonard Warrenton, Va. 

F. William Thrall Cambridge, Md. 
1. Virginia Thrall 

G. George Thrall m. Dora Creash Williamsburg, Va. 

1. James B. Thrall (1918) 

H. Annie Thrall m. Ruben Ford Culpeper, Va. 

1. Roberta Ford (1920) Culpeper, Va. 

DESCENDANTS OF MARY GENTRY (1825-1893) 

and (1) Robert Clark (?-1862) (2) Boyle Gordon (P-1895) 

I. ROBERT CLARK (1858-1936) 

II. RICHARD GENTRY CLARK (1860-1937) m. Margaret 

Coleman (1865-1938) 

A. Boyle Gordon Clark (1884) m. Myrtle Duncan 

Columbia, Mo. 
1. Helen Clark (1909) Columbia, Mo. 

B. Thomas Gentry Clark (1884) m. Louise Tyler 

McBaine, Mo. 

C. Anna B. Clark (1887-1913) m. A. W. Terrell 

1. Jack Terrell (1913) m. Bobbie Burns Columbia, Mo. 



13 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

D. Joseph S. Clark (1889) Columbia, Mo. 

E. William Richard Clark (1893) m. Louise Miller 

Columbia, Mo. 

F. Mary M. Clark (1895) m. Raymond Martin 

Los Angeles, Calif. 
1. Raymond Martin, Jr. Los Angeles, Calif. 

G. Dorothy Clark (1898) m. J. F. Poland Cameron, Mo. 

1. James Ross Poland (1923) Cameron, Mo. 

2. Richard Gentry Poland (1925) Cameron, Mo. 

3. Robert Foster Poland (1928) Cameron, Mo. 

III. MARSHALL GORDON (1869-1932) m. Mary Denny 

Columbia, Mo. 
A. Frederick Gordon (1903) m. Deborah Mills 

Columbia, Mo. 
1. Patricia Ann Gordon (1930) Columbia, Mo. 

DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS BENTON GENTRY 

(1830-1906) and (1) Mary Todd (1831-1892) 
(2) Eugenia Babb (1848-1938) 
(Both children by first wife) 

I. NORTH TODD GENTRY (1866) m. Ulie Denny 

Columbia, Mo. 

A. Mary Todd Gentry (1905) m. H. K. Hannah, Jr., 

St. Louis, Mo. 

1. Mary Denny Hannah (1928) St. Louis, Mo. 

2. John D. Hannah (1931) St. Louis, Mo. 

3. Todd Gentry Hannah (1934) St. Louis, Mo. 

B. Nadine D. Gentry (1906) m. Marshall Lovan 

St. Louis, Mo. 

1. Mary Virginia Lovan (1932) St. Louis, Mo. 

2. Betty Jeanne Lovan (1938) St. Louis, Mo. 

II. WILLIAM RICHARD GENTRY (1869) m. 

(1) Mary Lee Payne (1869-1901) 

(2) Anna L. Heidern Clayton, f Mo. 
(Childlby first wife) &<' g&f$g >i i, ' %% 

A. William Richard Gentry, Jr., (1897) m. Elizabeth F. Estes 

St. Louis, Mo. 
1. Elizabeth Foster Gentry (1933) St. Louis, Mo. 

(Child by second wife) 

B. Thomas Frederick Gentry (1906) m. Martha Forrest 

Clayton/'Mo. 



14 



DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL RICHARD GENTRY 

(Copy of inscription on bronze placque, 36 inches wide and 
24 inches tall, placed on a boulder on the Connors Highway, 
3 miles East of the Village of Okeechobee, Florida). 



IN THESE WOODS, ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1837, WAS FOUGHT THE 

BATTLE OF OKEECHOBEE 
IN WTIICH A LARGE BAND OF SEMINOLE INDIANS, UNDER CHIEFS 
WILDCAT, ALLIGATOR AND SAM JONES, WAS ROUTED BY A BRIGADE 
LED BY COLONEL ZACHARY TAYLOR, CONSISTING OF THE FIRST, 
FOURTH, AND SIXTH REGIMENTS OF INFANTRY OF THE REGULAR 
ARMY, AND THE FIRST REGIMENT OF MISSOURI VOLUNTEERS, 
TOTALLING ABOUT 800 MEN. FIGHTING WAS CLOSE, DESPERATE 
AND BLOODY. LOSSES: SEMINOLES — UNKNOWN: WHITES — 28 
KILLED, 111 WOUNDED. THIS ACTION WAS THE TURNING POINT 
OF ORGANIZED INDIAN RESISTANCE IN FLORIDA. 

OFFICERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES WERE: 
COLONEL RICHARD GENTRY, OF THE MISSOURI VOLUNTEERS: 
LIEUT. -COL. ALEXANDER R. THOMPSON, CAPT. JOSEPH VAN 
SWEARINGEN, 1ST LIEUT. FRANCIS J. BROOKE, 1ST LIEUT. 
JOHN P. CENTER, ALL OF THE SIXTH INFANTRY, REGULAR 

ARMY. 

THIS MARKER WAS DEDICATED NOVEMBER 11, 1939, THROUGH 

FUNDS GIVEN BY THE DESCENDANTS OF COLONEL RICHARD 

GENTRY, AND THE FLORIDA SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS 

OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



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